Effect of number and timing of winter grazings on winter and spring pasture production

Abstract

Winter and spring pasture production were measured in pasture grazed 2, 3, 4, or 5 times during the winter in combinations of 30-, 60-, or 90-day regrowth periods, the shorter regrowth periods being timed early or late in winter. Grazing treatments had little effect on winter herbage production, but a linear regression of spring production (kg DM/ha per day) on number of grazings gave a positive slope (slope = 5.1, SE = 2.0). There were no differences in Leaf Area Index after the final winter grazing in 1980. Treatments grazed twice during winter produced less ryegrass and more cocksfoot than other treatments in the third year. Early spring production might be improved by winter rotation lengths shorter than those currently favoured for all-grass wintering.

Keywords:

• pasture production
• seasonal growth
• grazing management