If there are obvious signs of patch grazing in paddocks, such as bare hilltops and sheep camps and rank grass in other parts, there is room to improve pasture utilisation. It is important to manage uneven grazing before increasing stocking rate. Running more stock will increase pasture utilisation, but any areas are already overgrazed will be grazed even harder, which can reduce ground cover, and increase erosion and compaction.
Uniformity of pasture utilisation is affected by:
- Paddock size — Smaller paddocks are generally grazed more evenly than large paddocks, but there is no rule of thumb for optimum paddock size, as it depends on flock size, the livestock production system and other factors, such as cropping requirements.
- Paddock uniformity — Flat paddocks will be grazed more evenly than hilly paddocks, north-facing slopes will be grazed harder than south-facing slopes, saline areas will be preferentially grazed, etc.
- Grazing method — Using large mobs of stock for short periods in a paddock will reduce the opportunity for stock to graze selectively and result in more even utilisation, but it can lower performance per animal.
- Type of stock — Sheep are more selective grazers than cattle and tend to create bigger camp areas. Cattle can be used to complement sheep grazing.
- Watering points — Pasture utilisation tends to be highest close to watering points. This is especially noticeable in large paddocks with a single watering point.
Some short-term options to achieve more even pasture utilisation include:
- fencing paddocks to land class to reduce the variability within them. Land classes are based on soil type, slope, aspect and land use.
- reducing selective grazing by either reducing paddock size/using bigger mobs to graze the paddock in a rotation. Boxing (combining) existing mobs and using existing paddocks for rotational grazing is the most cost-effective way to get started on evening up utilisation within paddocks.