Description
In Germany and South Tyrol, it is not common to measure grass growth on pastures weekly. Many farmers estimate their grass growth by eye. This is because the benefit of measuring is not obvious for many farmers. In addition, there are no equations for Northern German conditions, which are needed for measuring grass with tools like Rising Plate Meter or Grasshopper.
Three pilot farms in Northern Germany determined the grass growth with simple grass shears once a week during the last grazing season. One of the farmers talked about his experiences in the frame of the cross-visit of LRC (Laimburg Research Center). The farmer mentioned that measuring grass trained and corrected his measuring with his eyes. It is important to determine the grass growth in kg DM/ha rather than centimetres. The data is a strong and objective basis for decision-making on pasture and in the shed. Information about grass growth is necessary for quantitative specifying of supplementary feeding in the shed. Furthermore, the farmer gets a good overview on temporal grass development. Trends can be quickly identified, so that management adjustments can be made.
As disadvantages he mentioned a high expenditure of time for manual measurement tools (shears, manual Plate Meter). Data need to be transmitted in a database, which is only available in English language. Digital tools as a digital Rising Plate Meter or Grasshopper would mean higher costs. According to this, farmers from South Tyrol explained that there is no understanding or acceptance of colleague farmers for the measurements.
Abstract also available in:
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