Effects of cutting regime on pasture production

Abstract

Pasture production was measured at Invermay over 3 years in an experiment with 6 different cutting frequencies (which included cutting decisions based on either height or time) and 2 cutting severities. Infrequent cutting outyielded frequent cutting, especially in the spring and early summer. During the dry summer-autumn period a cutting frequency of between 4 and 6 weeks appeared optimal except in a very dry year. A cutting decision based on mean pasture height was better related to the pattern of pasture growth than a decision involving cutting at regular intervals. Cutting to 3 cm consistently outyielded treatments cut to 6 cm.