Grazing management in wet conditions

Find out how to manage grazing in wet conditions to avoid excessive poaching and maintain a productive sward.

Managing residual grass levels helps you make the most of your grazing while giving plants time to recover, support future growth and maintain a productive sward.

Soil texture, structure, drainage, organic matter, slope and previous management all affect how well land can withstand livestock traffic.

Extending grazing can reduce reliance on conserved forage and housing, but the value of extra days at grass depends on how much feed livestock obtain and the damage caused to soils and swards.

Back fencing prevents livestock from returning to areas they have already grazed and damaging regrowth.

On-off grazing allows livestock to access pasture for a limited period before being removed to housing or a suitable stand-off area.

It can help continue using grazed grass during wet weather while reducing the time animals spend walking on saturated ground.

A sacrifice paddock is an area deliberately selected for livestock use when other fields are too wet or vulnerable to grazing.

It may experience greater poaching, sward damage and nutrient concentration than the rest of the grazing platform.