Autumn light grazing a late summer sown herbal ley?

[The_Swede]

Hey up,

Sowed a stewardship legume and herb rich mix back in early August. Established really well but so has a lot of volunteer ryegrass - wouldn't mind getting this out to allow some space for the sown (required) species... sheep man is also keen to bring some animals in towards end of October so potentially grazing herbs and legumes at 10-12 week growth stage.

Many other variables I know but what growth stage / how tall / how many trifoliate leaves does a clover plant want or need to stand a light grazing in the late autumn? Will the sheep preferentially graze the ryegrass (or anything else!?).

Given cost of seed mix is it actually worth the risk?

Cheers

 

[andybk]

be ok to bite it off i would think , just have a run back so it doesnt get hammered if its wet ,and dont eat it till it hurts , i would keep stocking rate fairly low if possible . most legumes are pretty hardy and respond well to light grazing

 

[IEM]

Grazed a new gs4 ley pretty hard last autumn and all the species were identifiable in the spring. I would think hard grazing would encourage the ryegrass to dominate though as it will recover and grow later into winter/earlier in spring than the rest of the mix!

 

[Ysgythan]

Yes.

 

[The_Swede]

Yes.

Yes as in worth grazing / safe - crack on!?

 

[ShooTa]

why not strip graze with a back fence on a short duration - that way it wont get that second bite taken off hurting the lay.

 

[Ysgythan]

Yes as in worth grazing / safe - crack on!?

Yes, it is worth the risk.

 

[DRC]

How are people getting on with the herb rich ley, and how much does the seed cost approximately