Rotational grazing

Green farmer · 23-05-2017 10:42PM #1

Moving sheep every 3-4 days here but cannt build up any real wedge ahead of them, so just chasing grass around. How's everyone else set ?

rangler1 · 23-05-2017 10:53PM

Green farmer wrote: »

Moving sheep every 3-4 days here but cannt build up any real wedge ahead of them, so just chasing grass around. How's everyone else set ?

Can't keep it grazed here......are you getting much rain, west seems to be badly affected by the drought
how much nitrogen have you spread, how many ewes to the acre

Green farmer · 23-05-2017 11:04PM

rangler1 wrote: »

Can't keep it grazed here......are you getting much rain, west seems to be badly affected by the drought
how much nitrogen have you spread, how many ewes to the acre

About 10 ewes to acre, but mixed quality land and swards. Spreading about 3/4 a bag after each grazing of 18 6 12 , but think your spot on with drought. growth got right knocked recently and sheep have overgrazed. Would love a lot of rain here as only small amounts fell.

rangler1 · 23-05-2017 11:55PM

Green farmer wrote: »

About 10 ewes to acre, but mixed quality land and swards. Spreading about 3/4 a bag after each grazing of 18 6 12 , but think your spot on with drought. growth got right knocked recently and sheep have overgrazed. Would love a lot of rain here as only small amounts fell.

10 to the acre is heavy stocking, 400 going around 70 acres here and not able to keep it grazed, also have 150 ewe lambs plus lambs on 10 acres just for a trial, it's in six paddocks and working well, but are starting to overgraze now too, they'll be going to help the 400 to clear a few paddocks next week.
I haven't really worked it out but I think I'd have to apply for a Nitrates derogation for that stocking rate if I wasn't planning selling most of them in September so you must be well overstocked for nitrates

charolais0153 · 23-05-2017 11:56PM

Green farmer wrote: »

About 10 ewes to acre, but mixed quality land and swards. Spreading about 3/4 a bag after each grazing of 18 6 12 , but think your spot on with drought. growth got right knocked recently and sheep have overgrazed. Would love a lot of rain here as only small amounts fell.

Acre or hectare

Green farmer · 24-05-2017 07:32AM

charolais0153 wrote: »

Acre or hectare

Sorry lads , 10 to hectare .

razor8 · 24-05-2017 11:47AM

How long are rotations and how many divisions?

Green farmer · 24-05-2017 01:16PM

razor8 wrote: »

How long are rotations and how many divisions?

Im rotating them around 5 grazing paddocks, but of those some need to be split further, to create 7. Think I made the mistake of trying to keep them in paddocks a day longer then I should. Theres great heat there in the last few days that I think is going to turn things around though. Muggy weather.

razor8 · 24-05-2017 04:20PM

Green farmer wrote: »

Im rotating them around 5 grazing paddocks, but of those some need to be split further, to create 7. Think I made the mistake of trying to keep them in paddocks a day longer then I should. Theres great heat there in the last few days that I think is going to turn things around though. Muggy weather.

ive found you need rotations to be as near 20 days as possible to see maximum benefits

Green farmer · 24-05-2017 05:12PM

razor8 wrote: »

ive found you need rotations to be as near 20 days as possible to see maximum benefits

I was chasing my tail since April as had ewes and lambs in two different groups and another paddock of stores , so was falling well short of the 20 days. I've tightened em up now, so hope the pendulum will swing the other way. Lack of rain didn't help either. Been so dry here I've turf ready to bring home now, a few months ahead of schedule.

farawaygrass · 24-05-2017 11:30PM

Need rain badly. I am getting stuck for grass big time. It was so close to raining yesterday and a bit today. We didn't get right rain bar a couple of days since paddys day

AntrimGlens · 25-05-2017 10:47AM

farawaygrass wrote: »

Need rain badly. I am getting stuck for grass big time. It was so close to raining yesterday and a bit today. We didn't get right rain bar a couple of days since paddys day

Running into problems here now with too much grass ahead of me, or as dairy farmers talk about a wedge!!!
Have a 5 acre field that was due to be baled but ended back up in rotation and grazed but I'll take it out now and reseed it. Had 200 Hoggs in 5 acres split into 3 paddocks and it's lasted 12 days, will skip another couple of fields and it should bring me back to 21 days. Have a KT meeting here next Tuesday on grassland management and rotational grazing so st least I will have grass to show the group. It's really only the second year I've been rotational grazing and really starting to see the benefits namely I'm massively understocked which I never would have said a few years ago.

Kevhog1988 · 25-05-2017 11:38AM

i rotate my ewes & lambs every 14 days (im home every second weekend & dad looks them over during the week). should i leave it to every 3rd weekend to rotate them?.

rangler1 · 25-05-2017 09:07PM

theemigrant wrote: »

i rotate my ewes & lambs every 14 days (im home every second weekend & dad looks them over during the week). should i leave it to every 3rd weekend to rotate them?.

It's important to have nice green leafy grass for sheep between 4 and 8 cms in length and any long grass that they didn't eat the last time they were in that paddock is gone too strong for them and useless in this grazing
If your grass complies with all those conditions, it doesn't matter whether it's 14 or 21 days, my ideal rotation would be 14 or 15 days this time of the year,
needless to say I don't always achieve it and the disc mower has to be brought out to speed up the rotation.
In any case every paddock is mowed 24 hrs before the ewes leave it, as I say if they don't eat it this time it'll be no good to them the next time

Green farmer · 25-05-2017 10:05PM

After getting a huge burst of growth in the last two days. A lovely sight indeed.

Username John · 25-05-2017 10:18PM

Far too much grass here. Very under stocked, which is a big problem... But the main issue is I have too much grass and no way of controlling demand - I have no way to topping / mowing, and it isn't an option in some of the fields... so just have to make the most of it...

Some fields do end up going to **** a bit, as they get overgrown, and the grass half goes to seed...

Tis a bit of a balls of a system, actually it prob isnt even a system really... but that's the way we do it

jd06 · 25-05-2017 11:13PM

Username John wrote:

Some fields do end up going to **** a bit, as they get overgrown, and the grass half goes to seed...

Username John wrote:

Far too much grass here. Very under stocked, which is a big problem... But the main issue is I have too much grass and no way of controlling demand - I have no way to topping / mowing, and it isn't an option in some of the fields... so just have to make the most of it...

Username John wrote:

Tis a bit of a balls of a system, actually it prob isnt even a system really... but that's the way we do it

I'm someway similar myself
Just wondering would you buy some stock just for the Summer to keep the grass down.
If so what would people recommend

razor8 · 25-05-2017 11:54PM

Would you not consider helping the poor dairy farmers and letting some heifers in for a month or 2?

Username John · 26-05-2017 09:49AM

razor8 wrote: »

Would you not consider helping the poor dairy farmers and letting some heifers in for a month or 2?

I prob should, the poor devils...

I wouldn't have great facilities... everything is setup for sheep - no crush, water troughs are plastic and I'd be afraid could easily be broken...

Plus, I'd only want a few, and might only want them to graze out a field, and then be gone, and then back again after a while... It would be hassle...

Plus, even though its not the best approach, and my grass would be in the better of your suggestion - I am half-odd, and just like to paddle my own canoe to be honest Razor...

ganmo · 26-05-2017 07:04PM

in one block the grass is way ahead of the ewes and the other its nearly skint starting to burn up over the rocks

Green farmer · 27-05-2017 09:23PM

slightly off topic, but with grass growth in mind, what are lads thoughts on reseeding ? or other then fert and lime, what can be done to improve swards. I've old pastures with a lot of weeds and weed grasses in them.

charolais0153 · 27-05-2017 09:43PM

Green farmer wrote: »

slightly off topic, but with grass growth in mind, what are lads thoughts on reseeding ? or other then fert and lime, what can be done to improve swards. I've old pastures with a lot of weeds and weed grasses in them.

You'd know the fields that are reseeded . the growth is unbelievable, and the lamb thrive is good too.

Username John · 27-05-2017 09:56PM

Green farmer wrote: »

slightly off topic, but with grass growth in mind, what are lads thoughts on reseeding ? or other then fert and lime, what can be done to improve swards. I've old pastures with a lot of weeds and weed grasses in them.

Spray weeds...
As much dung as you can get your hands on at the back end of the year...

DJ98 · 27-05-2017 10:58PM

https://www.agridirect.ie/product/b50-battery-fencer

Would that fencer be suitable for fencing/spliiting small fields max 3 acres to block graze sheep?

Green farmer · 28-05-2017 11:29AM

Username John wrote: »

Spray weeds...
As much dung as you can get your hands on at the back end of the year...

It's the more stemmy fine grasses along with weed plantain that have taken over the place. Not much leafy grass as should be, but still lots of clover, so sort of rules out selective spraying . That leads me to reseeding , but hear loads of horror stories of places worse afterwards. , so thinking about minimal ground disturbance.

razor8 · 28-05-2017 11:35AM

DJ98 wrote: »

https://www.agridirect.ie/product/b50-battery-fencer

Would that fencer be suitable for fencing/spliiting small fields max 3 acres to block graze sheep?

I've a Rutland one that cost a lot less than that and find it great for sheep. Had a mosquito one that was rubbish

charolais0153 · 28-05-2017 01:19PM

Green farmer wrote: »

It's the more stemmy fine grasses along with weed plantain that have taken over the place. Not much leafy grass as should be, but still lots of clover, so sort of rules out selective spraying . That leads me to reseeding , but hear loads of horror stories of places worse afterwards. , so thinking about minimal ground disturbance.

Done a field in august with 3 passes of disc harrow , spread seed and fertiliser and then rolled it. Sprayed it 6 weeks after and it turned out mighty, used top5 extend grass seed and 3 bags 10-10-20

Username John · 28-05-2017 05:12PM

Green farmer wrote: »

It's the more stemmy fine grasses along with weed plantain that have taken over the place. Not much leafy grass as should be, but still lots of clover, so sort of rules out selective spraying . That leads me to reseeding , but hear loads of horror stories of places worse afterwards. , so thinking about minimal ground disturbance.

If I could suggest getting the Ph and the indexs right first... if you don't, then you will spend a lot getting them right, or else your reseed won't come as good as you'd like...

I think you would also want to be fairly highly stocked... you need to eat the reseed well down in the first while, but you also need to feed it... both of which are hard without being highly stocked...

rangler1 · 28-05-2017 05:42PM

Username John wrote: »

If I could suggest getting the Ph and the indexs right first... if you don't, then you will spend a lot getting them right, or else your reseed won't come as good as you'd like...

I think you would also want to be fairly highly stocked... you need to eat the reseed well down in the first while, but you also need to feed it... both of which are hard without being highly stocked...

+1
Ryegrasses need nitrogen or they won't last, their advantage is that they grow faster than the meadowgrasses with nitrogen and compete because of that, but if you reduce the nitrogen the lesser grasses will take over

ganmo · 28-05-2017 07:24PM

This is the only. It if reseeding I've done here. It's a patch where I'd lit a fire. I'm not sure if the sheep are grazing it more than the rest of the grass or it's just not performing.

ganmo · 28-05-2017 07:24PM

This is the only. It if reseeding I've done here. It's a patch where I'd lit a fire. I'm not sure if the sheep are grazing it more than the rest of the grass or it's just not performing.

Rotational grazing

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