9-step guide to setting up a beef grazing rotation
Grassland and forage specialist Charlie Morgan is working in partnership with Adas on an AHDB Beef project to help beef farmers improve efficiency and strengthen their businesses.
Here he provides Farmers Weekly with a step-by-step guide to setting up a grazing rotation in a beef system.
1. Calculate your stocking rate
Know how many cows, calves and bulls will be grazing through the season. It will be necessary to establish the herd potential as the grass demand for calves will increase as they grow.
2. Create paddocks
Individual paddocks should be in the region of two hectares as this is the ideal size for management and utilisation, but it will depend on herd size and frequency of moves.
In regions with smaller fields, hedges will provide natural boundaries, but for bigger fields split with electric fencing or semi-permanent fencing, there needs to be sufficient numbers of paddocks to make the system work – a rotation can be as short as 21 days or as high as 30 days or more.
3. Each paddock will need a supply of water.]
If electric fences are used, one trough can supply four paddocks. Water supply on a beef farm is not as critical as for a dairy farm therefore the water flow does not need to be fast and smaller troughs can be used.
Solar-powered pumps can be dropped into a watercourse and are movable, allowing for greater flexibility.
4. Work out the total feed demand from the weight of the animals
Growing cattle will eat 3% of their bodyweight on average and a late lactating cow, 2%.
In a dairy system, the weight of a lactating cow is fairly constant but in a beef system there will be animals increasing in weight therefore allowances need to be made for cattle growing.
To do this effectively cattle need to be weighed, at least once during the season.
See also: Paddock grazing helps beef farmer halve finishing costs
5. Measure the grass, using a plate meter or sward stick
This data can be input into a computer program to work out kilogrammes of dry matter per hectare. Subtract the residual from this, and the difference will be the total grass available for grazing.
6. Set targets for entry and exit grazing covers
The ideal entry point is 2,500kg DM/ha. The exit point should be pushed as low as 1,500-1,700kg DM/ha.
Plan for a winter grass wedge of 2,200-2,300kg DM/ha. “Many beef farmers also have sheep and have the advantage of using them for sward control at the end of a rotation, by bringing them into the paddock behind the cattle to tidy up, or by mixed grazing.
This is an added opportunity that dairy farmers don’t have,’’ says Mr Morgan.
7. Graze a paddock for no more than three days
“If you were aiming for perfection the cattle would be moved every day but in a beef system there has to be a balance between labour costs, effort and weight gain,’’ insists Mr Morgan.
8. Have a contingency plan for when grass supply diminishes
In the worst case scenario, this could be an opportunity to sell cull cows or store calves. Or accept that growth rates will slow and that animals will be slower to finish.
Supplementary feeding is another option. If the farm is prone to drought, grow forage crops such as hybrid rape kale in fields outside the grazing platform and these can be brought into the rotation when grazing is under pressure.
Nitrogen can be used strategically to push the grass a bit harder. “If you have been measuring and have a complete picture, a shortfall can be identified in plenty of time,’’ says Mr Morgan.
“It may be that the calving dates need to be reworked, so that cows are calving to grass. March and April are the ideal.’’
9. Rotational grazing is not an exact science
Use a farmer’s eye to make sure the system is working. The system may need adjusting once in place but once established, the same pattern can be followed year after year.