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MMFS Module 8: Turn Pasture into Product
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Chapter 8.1 - Know your feed supply
Key decisions, critical actions and benchmarks -
Review annual rainfall patterns
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Determine your current pasture growth pattern
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Determine variability in your pasture growth
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Modify your pasture supply
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Deferred grazing through containment feeding
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Utilise cereal crops
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Chapter 8.2 - Know your animal demandKey decisions, critical actions and benchmarks
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Estimate feed quality
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Estimate pasture mass/feed on offer
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Set annual targets for livestock classes and pasture
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Assess stock condition
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Set trigger points and plan to meet your targets
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Monitor your plan
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Modify the annual animal demand curve
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Time of lambing
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Stock sales and purchases
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Time of shearing
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Chapter 8.3 - Match animal demand to feed supply and minimise riskKey decisions, critical actions and benchmarks
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Introduction
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Plan your feed year
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Does pasture supply meet animal demand?
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What animal factors can I change?
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Complete regular feed budgets (measure and monitor)
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Manage the grazing system to control stock intake
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Manage the grazing system to maintain optimum pasture levels
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Implement tactical grazing
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Are paddocks unevenly grazed?
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Increase pasture utilisation on part of your property
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Plan for drought
Tactical grazing focuses on applying grazing techniques that best meet animal, pasture and environmental targets. Consider:
- Set stocking at a conservative stock density to maximise the intake of quality pasture by lactating ewes.
- Rotationally grazing perennial pastures to ensure persistence.
- Using high density, short duration rotations to ration intake or control weeds.