2.11 - Grazing management tactics

• Use strategic, tactical or rotational grazing
• Maintain groundcover at 70% in high rainfall zones or 40% in semi-arid areas
• Allow flowering and seed set of desirable grasses
• Avoid use of legumes and high rates of phosphorus and sulfur

• Continuously graze even at low and moderate stocking rates
• Overgraze, especially in dry conditions
• Regularly burn pastures
• Allow shrub and weed invasion

Note: Many states and catchments restrict native pasture management interventions (see Procedure 5.3 signposts in the Protect Your Farm’s Natural Assets module of Making More from Sheep).

• Allow flowering and set seed once a year
• Rotationally graze and supplement stock when green herbage mass is low
• Control growth of temperate species (eg clover, barley grass, ryegrass) in early spring
• Control growth of competitive, summer growing annual grasses
• Provide adequate nitrogen
• Do not overgraze when dry or nitrogen is low
• Maintain groundcover

• Reduce fertiliser and nitrogen inputs
• Graze heavily during flowering
• Graze rhodes grass to ground level

Note: Purple pigeon, rhodes grass and green panic are susceptible to overgrazing when dry and nitrogen is low.

• Increase phosphorus applications
• In northern environments with more summer rainfall, rest in spring–summer, remove excess trash late in summer, then rest until 3–4 weeks after autumn break
• In southern environments, rest over autumn–winter to allow more tillering of the existing plants
• Graze after the plants reach 4 leaves/tiller

• Allow soil fertility to decline
• Graze heavily during spring–summer or repeatedly cut to not allow to run to head.
• Graze heavily any new green shoots in summer and autumn, but monitor stock for any signs of phalaris poisoning such as phalaris staggers and sudden death syndrome

• Graze to maintain above 1,000–1,500kg DM/ha
• Apply high rates of phosphorus fertiliser
• Avoid continuous grazing of green shoots during summer and autumn

• To avoid cocksfoot dominance, graze all summer growth including individual tussocks down to 10cm tall at the autumn break
• Graze heavily during autumn to physically pull plants from the ground
• Graze hard down to 2.5cm or less during late spring or summer
• Allow soil fertility to decline

• Rotationally graze during summer, ideally after plants reach 3 leaves/tiller

• Allow soil fertility to decline
• Do not allow to run to head
• Graze continuously and heavily during summer

• Graze frequently (every 14–21 days) for short periods (2–3 days) during periods of active growth, once the plants reaches 4 leaves/tiller
• Do not graze until 3 weeks of good active growth or 12–15cm of grass growth
• Set stock or rotationally graze from autumn to spring to maintain 1,000–2,500kg DM/ha (or 5–15cm) of pasture

• Continuously graze in hot dry conditions
• Graze heavily during dry summers or early autumn

• Avoid grazing until seedlings have 3–5 true leaves, usually 3–6 weeks after the autumn break
• Keep groundcover and weeds below 1,000kg DM/ha during summer–early autumn
• Maintain a sward height of 5cm or less until flowering
• Increase phosphorus applications

• Maintain groundcover above 1,000kg DM/ha
• Do not control earth mites
• Cut hay or graze heavily during seedset
• Apply herbicides during flowering
• Allow soil fertility to decline, including molybdenum and boron

• Keep groundcover and weeds low at break and graze continuously to keep the grasses short
• Over winter and early spring, graze pasture to 750kg DM/ha (or 3cm)
• Heavily rotationally graze in spring to control grasses, maintaining pasture between 1,000–3,000kg DM/ha (or 10–25cm)
• Increase phosphorus applications

• Graze heavily during flowering
• Graze to less than 1,200kg DM/ha while under moisture stress during summer
• Allow soil fertility to decline, including molybdenum and boron

• Allow to achieve well in excess of 10% flowering prior to grazing. This must be achieved at least once per year, preferably in the autumn
• Rotationally graze for most areas
• In summer, 2 weeks rotational grazing and 5 weeks rest
• In winter, 2 weeks rotational grazing and 7–8 weeks rest

• Increase phosphorus applications
• Set stock paddocks at heavy stocking rates
• Allow soil fertility to decline, including molybdenum and boron

• Delay first grazing until plants are well anchored and starting to tiller (6–8 weeks post-emergence)
• For winter types, longer deferment can increase growth and winter feed supply
• High stock density rotational grazing gives the most even utilisation and allows recovery

• Heavy grazing during the first 6–8 weeks
• Heavy grazing in spring once the seed heads begin to form
• Late grazing of semi-dwarf types can make any grain harvesting difficult

• If sown as a specialist finishing pasture, rotational grazing is essential; a 4-paddock system works well
• Aim to maintain height at 5–40cm
• In late summer, allow stands to develop stems and set seed if regeneration is required
• If sown as a component of a mixed pasture, rotational grazing is essential for persistence, but it is likely to decline anyway

• Easily removed by set stocking
• Plants very susceptible to overgrazing and trampling when dormant (ie in winter)
• More erect varieties (eg grouse) have higher crowns and are more susceptible to overgrazing

• Most brassicas are grown to maturity and grazed only once so strip grazing is needed to minimise trampling losses
• Some forage Brassica hybrids are suited to multiple grazing – strip grazing minimises trampling losses and allows more rapid recovery