Mob grazing...is thistight enough?

[Jerry]

Will you slow them up, or can you reduce numbers?

With grass in front I have approx 34 days in the bank. By then I will be selling lambs that are fit.

I also o have a carryover of fodder from last year which means I can reduce haylage area should I need to.

if it rains in that time then all well and good and I can bank more fodder if increase heads.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

With grass in front I have approx 34 days in the bank. By then I will be selling lambs that are fit.

I also o have a carryover of fodder from last year which means I can reduce haylage area should I need to.

if it rains in that time then all well and good and I can bank more fodder if increase heads.

Good job
It's slowing up down here, opposite reason, it's getting cold! So I slowed my mob up a little, should hopefully get the 12 big cattle away next week ?

Then we'll rearrange the mobs and run a little yearling bull mob, and put the heifers+calves in with the sheeps.
It means I'll need another length of polypipe to water them, but that won't break the bank.

Like you, we have a reserve up our sleeve and a bit of feed in front of us.

 

[Chae1]

Good job
It's slowing up down here, opposite reason, it's getting cold! So I slowed my mob up a little, should hopefully get the 12 big cattle away next week ?View attachment 872899
Then we'll rearrange the mobs and run a little yearling bull mob, and put the heifers+calves in with the sheeps.
It means I'll need another length of polypipe to water them, but that won't break the bank.

Like you, we have a reserve up our sleeve and a bit of feed in front of us.

I was thinking about this morning while fertilizing our paddocks. I know. I'm bad!

What stocking density, kg/acre,ha do you advise? Cows and calves.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I was thinking about this morning while fertilizing our paddocks. I know. I'm bad!

What stocking density, kg/acre,ha do you advise? Cows and calves.

The more density, the better.

You'll grow more feed the tighter you have them, the "real turning point" is when you get up to/above 200T LWT/ha because overgrazing cannot exist (unless you forget to move them on, of course!)

Say we have 100 acres (near enough) and we graze an acre per day with a backfence, that means everything gets 99 days to recover.
Say we give them 5 acres and shift every 5 days, the plants they eat on the first day will be getting bitten again in 4 days time (overgrazed).
It's still an acre a day, and only theoretically 4 days less recovery, but because the recovering plant is bitten that second time, it stops growing for 17-20 days because the root reserves are gone.

Thus you shortened your growing period by 21-24 days instead of just 4, which makes a big difference to just how much you can grow in a year.

How low you graze matters much less than how long they can it graze for, as they say it's "a matter of time not space" and even in slower-growing times, it does regrow quite fast as that comes from the root reserves.

18 April

19 April

23 April
This pasture was rested 43 days pre grazing, and will be rested 66 days this time round, 80 days next round, and by then it will be lambing time.

 

[clod hopper]

The more density, the better.

You'll grow more feed the tighter you have them, the "real turning point" is when you get up to/above 200T LWT/ha because overgrazing cannot exist (unless you forget to move them on, of course!)

Say we have 100 acres (near enough) and we graze an acre per day with a backfence, that means everything gets 99 days to recover.
Say we give them 5 acres and shift every 5 days, the plants they eat on the first day will be getting bitten again in 4 days time (overgrazed).
It's still an acre a day, and only theoretically 4 days less recovery, but because the recovering plant is bitten that second time, it stops growing for 17-20 days because the root reserves are gone.

Thus you shortened your growing period by 21-24 days instead of just 4, which makes a big difference to just how much you can grow in a year.

How low you graze matters much less than how long they can it graze for, as they say it's "a matter of time not space" and even in slower-growing times, it does regrow quite fast as that comes from the root reserves.View attachment 87291118 April
View attachment 872909
19 AprilView attachment 872910
23 April
This pasture was rested 43 days pre grazing, and will be rested 66 days this time round, 80 days next round, and by then it will be lambing time.

We'll written ? Sir!!!

 

[Jerry]

Really pleased with his grass is responding. Thankfully it’s had two rain episodes so that is part of it for sure.

That section was grazed just over 2 weeks ago. It’s had a small dose of 20:10:10 about 9 days ago.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Really pleased with his grass is responding. Thankfully it’s had two rain episodes so that is part of it for sure.

That section was grazed just over 2 weeks ago. It’s had a small dose of 20:10:10 about 9 days ago.

Good work

 

[Kiwi Pete]

It's cooled off a fair bit down here, but I took another photo of the same fencepost again ^^^ just as a bit of a comparison and to show why that backfence is so crucial to growing feed. You can see the dew sitting on the fence wires, it's about 5°

My neighbour is putting his dairy herd into less cover than this, his weakness is that he puts the herd in (and feeds a few bales on it) but then he puts dry cows/calves in "to tidy up what they left" and the end result is that his follower mob are effectively eating the grass' reserve. One crappy calf is eating ten cow's worth of feed.... but he can't see how that can possibly be.

Look after that regrowth!