Grazed grass costs around 6-8p/kgDM. Compare this with grass silage at double the cost, or concentrate feed which is anywhere from double to quadruple the cost, you can see why maximising the contribution of grazed grass to the diet of livestock is a must for profitable production systems.

With aftergrass on silage ground now becoming available for grazing, managing quality is key over the next few weeks. Where pasture has been well managed and cleaned out after every grazing, quality should be good for the remainder of the season. However, poorly managed or set-stocked pasture will have a high proportion of stem and reduced feed value.

Now is the time to take steps to plan for grazing through the back end and set out an autumn rotation planner in preparation for next spring.

Step one: Sward quality

If grass has gone to seedhead, forcing animals to graze this will have a serious impact on liveweight gain. The best option is to get in and top. Topping is only beneficial when you cut down to 4-5cm. A topper set higher than this, taking the seedheads off the grass plant, is an expensive waste of diesel. A disc mower is often the best option to ‘reset’ paddocks.

Step two: Fertiliser

Plan the rest of the season’s fertiliser applications. Depending on where you are in the country, this may vary between one and three more applications. With grass now in its vegetative stage, applying 25-30kg/ha will boost grass growth without needing to worry about it going to seed. You want to have the highest cover of grass on the farm in late August/early September to carry you into winter.

Step three: Closing

Start with fields closest to the farmyard, fields you let lamb ewes or freshly-calved cows into. Start closing these paddocks up from mid to late September. Where regrowth is good, avoid the temptation to re-graze paddocks. Every day grazing in spring is worth two days’ grazing in autumn.