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Grazing / Grassland Management, Mr P Reynolds - Coggle Diagram
Grazing / Grassland Management
Good Grassland Management
Finding out the amount of herbage required. (tonnes)
The application of ample fertiliser to achieve this. (kg/ha)
Maximising the DMD by managing grazing swards and conservation.(%DMD)
Young leafy digestible grass to be available for grazing at all times.
An efficient system of rotational grazing allows this
Benefits of Rotational Grazing
Decreases labor and feed cost.
Allows time for palatable forages to regrow
Increases grazing efficiency.
Decreases parasite risk (Fluke,worm)(healthier)
Increases per-animal gain (Live Weight Gain)
Paddock Grazing
20-30 equal sized Paddocks paddocks.
graze in one day and move onto the next paddock.
They do not return to the previous paddock for at least three weeks (21 days)
Advantages
Fresh, highly digestible leafy grass is available every day.
Labour Extensive
No waste of grass – Most Efficient System
Allows Grass enough time to recover.
Any excess grass can be saved as silage.
Disadvanatges
Expensive to set up (roadways need to be created for access).
Fencing and water supply is needed for each paddock.
Strip Grazing
Farmer divides a paddock or field into strips using a moveable electric fence.
A strip is to provide enough grazing for 24 Hrs.
Every day, the herd is moved to a fresh strip.
A back fence is used to stop livestock from moving back into the last strip. (Prevent cattle eating new grass)
Advantages
Fresh, leafy grass is available for grazing each day.
No wastage of grass
Grass is not damaged while re-growing.
Cheaper system to set up
Disadvantages
Labour Intensive - move the livestock, electric fences and water supply.
Risk of Poaching
Block Grazing
Part-time farmers.
It consists of dividing up large fields into large blocks.
Livestock graze a block for approximately one week
Advantages
Cheaper to set up than paddock grazing.
Temporary – Used in silage Fields
Labour Extensive - less movement of herd
Poaching is minimised
Disadvanatages
Not as efficient as strip grazing/paddock grazing
Set Stocking
Livestock have access to all grazing land over one continuous area for the grazing season
Advantages
Low-cost system
Less labour
Disadavantages
not grazed efficiently (Grass goes stemmy)
High wastage of grass during peak months (May/June)
Reduced feeding value
Unpalatable grass with a lower digestibility produced.
Livestock are constantly exposed to disease .
Less profit than other grazing methods
How to Measure Grass
A 0.5m x 0.5m quadrat
Knock water off the grass (Can give False readings)
The grass cut to between 3.5 and 4cm.
Weight of grass (kg) x grass DM% x 40,000 = kg DM/ha in the paddock
Technology
Plate meter
Take heights across the entire paddock in a ‘W’ or ‘X’ pattern
Pressure Resistance of Grass
Grasshopper
Ultra-sonic sensor to accurately and precisely measure compressed grass height, with recorded GPS coordinates.
Data automatically updated to a smartphone and then to an online database PastureBase Ireland.
Complementary Grazing Systems (used with main grazing systems
Zero Grazing
A zero-grazer cuts grass and other forage crops and they are brought to the animals, where they are fed indoors.
Option if land is located far away from main farm.
Positives
Land not poached.
Energy not wasted by animals through movement (used for LWG and milk production instead).
Access to land away from the farm
Access to fresh grass all the time, feed intake increases.
Slurry collected can be spread on the land (less artificial fertilisers -reducing costs).
No need for topping as all grass is cut at the same time.
Negatives
Very labour intensive.
High Cost - Machinery and Maintainance.
Dry land – Heavy Machinery
Slurry Pressure
Disease Risk
Injury Risk
Weather Dependent
Creep grazing
gap or a creep gate in the fence allows calves or lambs access to another field for grazing.
This field is disease-free and has fresh leafy grass.
Young animals can return to suckle their mother.
Positives
Higher Productivity in calves/lambs (LWG)
Less disease to calves lambs as they graze the leaf and are not close to the ground (Fluke, Worms, Blackleg)
Grass grazed efficiently
Increased Profit – Less disease/higher LWG
Leader Follower System
Used in conjunction with paddock grazing.
Young animals (calves) graze one field ahead of the older animals.
Young animals have access to fresh leafy and digestible grass.
Older animals are moved in and they graze down the remaining grass.
Benefits
Calves have higher production (LWG)
Calves eat most palatable/digestible/Leafy grass
Less Disease Exposure
Grass is grazed efficiently
Higher Profit
Young animals do not have access to their mothers in this system of grazing.
Mixed Grazing
Cattle and sheep graze together
Advantages:
10-15% increase in production levels in both species of animal.
Tillering is increased (sheep graze closer to the ground) => no need for topping.
Tillering
development of side shoots in a plant
more side shoots or tillers that are produced by the grass plant the greater the quantity of herbage produced
Tillering is encouraged
2 more items...
Less waste of grass - cattle do not graze around dung pats but sheep do.
Cows eat some grass species that sheep don’t eat.
Reduces the risk of worm infestation as the stocking rate is lower => lowering the risk of infection.
Extended Grazing
extended between December and March.
land is closed off early in July or August
Benefits
Reduced need for silage.
Less risk of Disease - Pneumonia,Lice
Reduced cost. - Fertiliser,Silage,Diesel,Disease
Reduces carbon footprin
Disadvantages
Poor weather conditions = unsuitable grazing conditions = poaching of land.
DMD value of the grass is reduced with late grazing.
Lower LWG/Milk Yield due energy used to keep warm/movement/feed value
Paddocks unavailable for rotational grazing (pressure if high stocking rate).
Positive impact of grassland management practices on livestock and other animals.
Optimize the amount of grass produced for livestock – More grass – Less Feed Costs
Silage and hay quality will be higher – increase milk yield/LWG - Reduce feed Costs
Less exposure to parasites and diseases (particularly young animals) - Higher LWG – Less Management Costs
Increased growth rates – Due to higher quality grass available more often
Grassland Management on Biodiversity
Application of fertilisers and pesticides, ploughing and reseeding also contribute to a reduction of biological diversity.
Indicator species: A species whose status provides information on the overall condition of the ecosystem and of other species in that ecosystem.
Nitrogen can be applied to maintain the quality of the pasture
applied in accordance with the Nitrates Regulations.
Mr P Reynolds