Extending grazing without causing excessive poaching

Extending grazing can reduce feed and housing costs. Find out how to extend the grazing season, make the most of available grass and minimise poaching damage.

In wet conditions, base your grazing decisions on both grass availability and the ability of the ground to support livestock.

A field with plenty of grass may still be unsuitable if the soil is saturated or if animals will repeatedly walk across vulnerable areas.

The aim is to make the best use of available grass without reducing its productive capacity.

Walk the fields and consider:

• Soil condition: is the surface firm enough to support livestock without significant poaching?
• Grass cover: is there sufficient accessible grass to provide a worthwhile grazing period?
• Rainfall forecast: is further rain likely to make conditions worse?
• Access: are gateways and tracks likely to deteriorate under repeated traffic?
• Stock requirements: can grazing meet a meaningful proportion of daily feed demand?
• Alternatives: is housing, supplementary feeding or another field a better option?

Pay particular attention to areas where water collects, soil is shallow, e.g. over clay, or where livestock congregate around gateways and troughs.

Restrict grazing to periods when livestock are actively feeding, then remove them before excessive walking and trampling occur.

Make sure their nutritional requirements are met outside these periods.

Smaller allocations can improve control over where animals graze and walk.

In wet conditions, frequent moves may help limit repeated traffic provided the soil is still suitable for grazing.

Prevent stock returning to grazed areas; this will protect both regrowth and soil structure.

Graze the driest, most sheltered fields first.

Where practical, use alternative entrances/routes to reduce repeated traffic through the same gateways.

Avoid forcing too many animals onto a small area when conditions are deteriorating.

Consider grazing priority groups first, splitting groups where appropriate or housing part of the herd.

Use conserved forage or other suitable feed to meet nutritional requirements and reduce pressure on pasture.

This can enable grass to recover while maintaining livestock performance.

There is no universal rainfall threshold at which every field becomes unsuitable.

Soil moisture, texture, drainage, structure, stocking density and livestock weight all influence the risk and when you should stop grazing a field.

Stop or reduce grazing when:

• Poaching becomes deeper and more widespread
• The soil surface smears or breaks down underfoot
• Livestock repeatedly travel over the same damaged areas
• Bare soil and water-filled depressions begin to develop
• Forecast rainfall is likely to worsen already-marginal conditions
• Access routes and gateways are deteriorating rapidly

If soil is saturated, moving stock to another field may simply transfer the damage.

Housing or a suitable stand-off area may be the more appropriate option.

Compare the cost of housing and supplementary feed with the likely benefit of grazed grass. Include the longer-term cost of poaching, reseeding, reduced grass growth and remedial soil management.

Protecting the grazing platform may mean accepting fewer grazing days in the short term.

However, the priority is to preserve the soil's ability to produce grass over the rest of the season and into the following year.