Closing off the farm to have grass in the spring – The autumn rotation

Description

Description of the innovation

Autumn 60:40 Rotation Planner

The most important task any farmer will undertake on the autumn is to ensure that the farm is closed off properly to have an adequate supply of grass early next spring. The Autumn Rotation Planner is a tool:

  • to help keep grass in the diet of grazing animals for as long as possible
  • to set up paddocks for grazing the following spring

The 60:40 plan is based on having proportions of the farm closed by certain dates. The target is to have 60% of the farm closed early.

Advantages

  • Incrase grass supply for the spring
  • Increase grass growth over the winter period

Disadvantages

  • Farmers need to plan to maintain a high average farm cover in the autumn

Heavy Farms: Start Closing by 25th September with 60% (or more) of the farm grazed off by October 31st.

Dry Farms: Start Closing by 9th October with 60% of the farm grazed off by November 7th.

The target closing average farm cover is 550-600kgDM/ha (2.5 LU/ ha). Farms with a higher stocking rate should close with a higher average farm cover.

Guidelines

  1. All paddocks should be grazed tight, to a height of 3.5 – 4cm
  2. Use wet weather grazing techniques if ground conditions deteriorate (on-off gra-zing, strip wires)
  3. Do not regraze closed paddocks

More information

Additional information

Domains of innovation

forage mixture

Main types of animal

beef cattle, dairy cattle, meat sheep

Country

Ireland

Product type

Technical leaflet

Language

English

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