Monitor stock and pastures and prepare feed budgets to match pasture supply with animal demand
MLA & AWI July 31, 2024
Use feed budgets to determine whether pasture supply targets and nutritional demands for different classes of stock can be met with current or proposed stocking rate. Feed budgets also answer more tactical short-term questions like:
- How long will a paddock last with a certain number of sheep in it?
- How many sheep can graze a paddock for a certain length of time?
Reassess feed budgets often (daily, weekly, or fortnightly depending on pasture quality and quantity, growth rates, and class of stock) to ensure production requirements can be met for a given stock class. Use the pasture benchmarks table to identify the minimum pasture supply and quality required by different sheep classes.
Calculate a feed budget three months’ ahead when planning lambing or weaning paddocks, or for stock marketing and forward contracts.
The Feed year plan template tool recognises the range of stock classes, pastures and forage crops across a farm and brings all the annual decisions on pasture utilisation together in one plan. A Feed year plan will help identify in advance when high quality feed will be available .