1. Charles Brummer UGA Forage Breeding
Grazing Systems
Charles Brummer
UGA Forage Breeding

2. Wellington Cricket Ground
Do your pastures have more grass growth than this?

3. Components of a Grazing System
Soil
Grazing Method Management techniques to achieve your objective
Forage Plants
Grazing Animal
Production Characteristics

4. Similar to frontal grazing
Grazing Methods I
Southern Forages, 4th Ed.
Similar to frontal grazing

5. First – last grazing Leader – follower grazing
Grazing Methods II
Southern Forages, 4th Ed.
First – last grazing Leader – follower grazing

6. Continuous Stocking
Overgrazed and undergrazed – poor forage utilization
Forages do not persist - weeds encroach
Herbicides to control weeds also kill clover
No legume benefits of added N and limited fescue toxicity

7. It’s ALL about the grass
Graze
Begin regrowth
Roots die back
Graze again
Roots die back even more; plants die
Rest period – roots/shoots recover
Rational Grazing = Rotational stocking
Increases forage productivity
Decreases drought impacts and weed encroachment

9. 1 2 3 Divide large areas into at least several paddocks
Hill country sheep pasture, New Zealand

10. Rotational Stocking Georgia Grazing Dairy

11. Fencing options provide flexibility to your grazing program
Permanent fences for boundaries and major divisions
Step-in electric fence for temporary divisions

13. Many designs are possible
Individual paddocks with water and permanently fenced
Center lane covered in gravel leads to parlor

14. Sequential grazing with another species – chicory

15. Pasture subdivision is just Step 1
Rational grazing is not just about subdividing a pasture into smaller sections.

16. Rotation timing—Step 2
Voisin, 1959

17. Optimum Rest Period Varies

18. Be Flexible!
1. Allow enough time for pasture plants to regrow adequately
-Enables plants to restore energy reserves for regrowth
-Results in better yield
-Varies depending on time of year, species, water availability, fertility, temperature

19. Be Flexible!
2. Prevent forage from getting too mature

20. Continuous vs. rotational (4 paddock) stocking
Variable
Continuous
Rotational
% change
Stocking rate (cow-calf/A)
0.50
0.68
+36
Calf weaning wt
502
Calf gain / Acre
251
342
Pregnancy % 94 93
Hay fed (lb/cow)
2390
1690
-29
Endophyte-free tall fescue and common bermudagrass mixed grass pastures at Central Georgia Branch Station, Eatonton, Ga., 3-year average.

21. Improve Your Efficiency
Method
Efficiency
Grazing
Continuous Stocking
30-40%
Slow Rotation (3-4 paddocks)
50-60%
Moderate Rotation (6-8 paddocks)
60-70%
Well-managed MIG
70-80%
Mechanical
Hay
30-70%
Silage
60-85%
Green Chop
70-95%

22. Benefits of Rational Grazing
1. Better utilization of forage
2. Higher yield of forage
3. Higher stocking rates
4. Better animal gains/milk production per acre
5. Better persistence of seeded forages
6. Less weed invasion
7. Better manure distribution

23. Alternatives

24. Strip Grazing A Simple Rational Grazing Plan
Voisin, Grass Productivity, 1959

25. Strip Grazing Brassicas in New Zealand
Increase utilization of forage by limiting trampling

26. Creep grazing for young calves
Give calves access to high quality pasture (alfalfa) while cows graze lower quality pasture (bermudagrass)

27. Leader/follower grazing
Graze animals needing higher quality forage first
e.g., stockers, lactating cows
Bring other animals with lower nutritional needs to clean up each paddock
e.g., mature cows, open heifers

28. Mixed Animal Species Grazing

29. Toward a “no hay” grazing system$

30. Growth curves of various forages

31. Stockpile forage for autumn use
Save as stockpiled forage (“standing hay”)
Then strip graze to avoid trampling losses
“Buffer Grazing”

32. Tall fescue and bermudagrass pastures North Georgia – Piedmont
Fescue provides forage when bermudagrass is dormant
Bermudagrass is dormant in autumn/winter

33. Complementary “seasonal” pastures
Bermudagrass + overseeded ryegrass
Bermudagrass + overseeded ryegrass
Fescue + white clover
Fescue + white clover
Spring and Autumn
Summer and Winter
Bermudagrass + overseeded ryegrass
Bermudagrass + overseeded ryegrass
Fescue + white clover
Fescue + white clover

34. Summary Divide paddocks to rest your grass
Pay attention to the rotation time and be flexible in your management
Use stockpiled forage for periods of low production
Use complementary species to maximize pasture and minimize stored feed needs