Grazing priority planner in dry weather

Dry summers slow grass growth, reduce regrowth and increase the risk of overgrazing. This makes it more important to decide which stock to graze, where and when.

A grazing priority planner helps you allocate limited grass more effectively while protecting pasture recovery.

Livestock with the highest nutritional requirements should have access to the best-quality pasture:

• Lactating ewes and cows, especially early lactation, need high-quality leafy forage
• Growing and finishing stock need energy-dense grass to meet daily liveweight gain targets
• Dry or maintenance stock, such as dry cows or cull ewes, can be moved to lower-quality pasture or deferred grazing areas

 Where possible, use forage analysis to match quality with class of stock.

Walk paddocks frequently and use grazing wedges or sward height tools to guide decisions.

Focus on identifying:

• Paddocks ready to graze at 7–10 cm
• Paddocks that need more rest
• Paddocks that may need to be temporarily removed from the rotation

Prioritise grazing paddocks that are just reaching target pre-grazing cover, are less affected by drought and still have decent regrowth potential.

If grass supply is tight, reduce stocking density by offloading store animals or outwintering less productive groups.

Tighten the grazing rotation and introduce supplementary feeding to extend pasture availability.

Where grazing pressure cannot be avoided, use sacrifice paddocks to prevent widespread sward damage.

Build in decision points based on grass growth, rainfall or feed availability.

For example:

• If sward height drops below 4 cm across 80% of the platform, introduce silage
• If <50% of paddocks are at pre-grazing height by day 25, reduce stocking