Grazing Management During the Mid-Season

4LU/Ha Stocking Rate on Grazing Platform: 

The average grass growth recorded over the last 4 years on PBI informs us that a growth rate of 60-65kgDM/ha will occur over the next 4 months. A farm growing   65kgDM/ha should establish a stocking rate of 4LU/ha on the grazing platform (16kg/grass allocation per LU). If farms are too lowly stocked, paddocks can be closed off for 1^st cut silage or farmers can cut surplus grass as baled silage. It is important to maximise grass output/ha to build fodder reserves in our empty yards. 

Pre-grazing Yield and Residuals:

A pre-grazing yield of 1,400-1,500kgDM/ha (9.5-10cm) should be the grass covers ahead of our livestock. Animals should graze down to 4cm to maximise grass utilisation and encourage re-growths. Any heavy covers should not be grazed and should be cut as surplus bales. It is important to graze down to 4cm to ensure a green leafy sward for the next grazing.

Fertiliser/Slurry:

Farmers should be spreading a minimum of 1 unit N/day to maximise grass growth on the farm in the mid-season. Soils deficient in P and K need compound fertiliser such as 18-6-12 and any fertiliser being spread should include sulphur to achieve about an extra tonne of grass in the mid-season. Slurry is also a resource available to  farmers and should be spread where silage is taken off, especially after 1^st cut. Many farms have full or almost full tanks at the minute. We need to spread this slurry where silage is taken off in the mid-season to replace the off-take in nutrients from silage cuts (especially K) and to avoid having full tanks going into autumn.

Rotation Length:

Farmers should be operating at a rotation length of 16-21 days during the mid-season (20 days X Growth Rate (65kg) = 1300kgDM/ha). We should monitor growth on our farms to reduce rotation lengths during periods of high growths. During periods of very high growth (80-100kgDM/ha), a rotation length of 16 days can be established to avoid entering heavy covers.