Evaluating the Outcome of Grazing Practices

Beef cattle farming Farming Dairy cattle farming

A majority of farmers evaluate the result obtained on the vegetation, the herd, the work, etc. in light of the circumstances of the year (for example: amount of grass in relation to weather conditions, number of animals in relation to births, economic result in relation to the evolution of agricultural prices, …).

Yet the result obtained also depends greatly on the practices implemented and the adjustments decided during the year to cope with the more or less predictable variabilities of the natural, social, or economic environment.

A plot has no value in itself; this value is created by agricultural use. Evaluating the result obtained is therefore a fundamental step in order to progress in building this value.

This evaluation of the result legitimizes the diversity of objectives as well as the diversity of farmers' practices. It takes into account the complex links between herds, vegetation, and practices over time.

Evaluating the result of one's practices allows to:

Set priorities
Evaluate one's practice, re-question it or implement practices adapted to one's system
Limit surprises and better cope with hazards
Acquire knowledge through experimentation

Identify the gap between the objective and the result obtained

Identifying whether the result obtained meets the set objective is the first step in analyzing the result of one's practices.

This step simply consists of seeing if the result was achieved relative to all components of the set objective. This step can only be carried out by having previously defined what is expected of the animals, the vegetation, the work, etc., depending on the periods of the year.

Evaluate the result in light of the different components of the objective by estimating the degree of satisfaction

Precisely formulate one's plot objective

An objective is a target set on a result to be achieved. It includes several components decided according to knowledge, experiences, usual representations… of each person.

It must be sufficiently detailed to allow planning of practices that organize the meeting between herds and vegetation during the desired periods.
It must be time-bound to mark a deadline.
It must be measurable so as to evaluate the effect of practices.

The essential components on a plot concern subjects on which farmers have precise expectations. Mainly retained are: the seasonal function one wants to give to the plot according to the groups of animals, the availability and nutritional value of the vegetation one wishes to valorize and renew during the seasons, the skills and nutritional demand of the animals that will use the plot. Other components can be equally important: the work schedule, production costs, sought ecological qualities, etc.

Estimate one's degree of satisfaction

This estimation allows to position oneself on a satisfaction scale, possibly differently for each component of the objective. For example, one may have succeeded in controlling the dynamics of the vegetation, failed in the body condition gain of adult animals, and be satisfied with the lactation and growth of the young.

In case of satisfaction, the objective is achieved. It is then possible to consider maintaining it or even a more ambitious or better adapted objective if one knows how to progress in implementing practices. In any case, it is essential to clearly understand all variabilities (climatic, economic…) and the construction of the result, to know how to reproduce it.
In case of a gap, the objective is not achieved. Several types of gaps can be highlighted due to the multiplicity of the objective. The farmer must now adopt a posture of understanding its origin.

Understand the origin of the gap

Seeking to understand the origin of the gap between the objective and the result means tracing back to the causes of success or failure.

This step consists of looking back and better understanding what happened before obtaining the result.

The result obtained is the final consequence of a long chain of causality, where practices and pedoclimatic factors simultaneously impact biological objects, where vegetation and herds interact dynamically.

Sometimes, the objective is not fully achieved, but there are signs to say that part of the result is satisfactory.

The trajectory observed on animals and vegetation (trajectory of the solid black arrow compared to the dotted arrow) seems to go in the right direction, but the complete objective is not achieved.

For example, the milk tank level dropped following entry onto a plot. The farmer could be satisfied with a negative analysis of this result but some cows maintained their milk production while others decreased…

Sometimes, the practices implemented seem good but the result is not satisfactory because the impact of external factors was poorly anticipated.

In this type of gap, the practices put in place are satisfactory because they allow to influence the trajectory of animals and vegetation as expected. However, the impact of external factors (climate, soil, genetics, etc.) was poorly anticipated and the adjustment of practices was insufficient to obtain the expected result.

For example, lambing was organized at the beginning of spring to take advantage of pasture, but lambs were small at the time of moving to summer pasture compared to other lambs in the pastoral group born in winter. Guarding was therefore very difficult to adapt to the diversity of behavior, which forced the farmer to bring his lambs down earlier given their condition.

Sometimes, it is an incomplete knowledge of animals or vegetation that leads to programming inappropriate practices.

The usefulness of a practice is to shape the living so that it expresses the traits one desires. Practices influence the functioning of animals and vegetation as well as their encounter over time.

Having distinguished between the influence of practices and that of external factors, this type of gap highlights an inappropriate adjustment of practices linked to poor knowledge of the functioning of animals and/or vegetation.

For example, the farmer sought to finish his lambs, in summer, on a plot dominated by Molinia while aiming to reduce this plant. Despite implementing a management alternating guarding and paddock grazing, some lambs (the tail of the group) had difficulty gaining weight and did not reach the targeted fattening state. The practice was not adapted to succeed both the growth objective of all lambs and the strict finishing of the paddocks.

Correct the gap by adjusting the practice or the objective

Correcting the gap is a unique act specific to each encountered case. There is no automatic procedure to engage a precise correction in response to an origin. It is the individual motivations on farms that shape technical choices and allow giving an adapted value to plots. Everyone must be free to resolve their gap as they see fit.

Once the probable causes of the gap between the set objective and the result obtained have been identified, the correction should be simplified. This correction primarily involves a voluntary and personal decision to engage an adjustment of the objective and/or practices to achieve it.

To do so, we point out several useful means to correct a gap:

Enrich one's knowledge about the characteristics of animals and vegetation

For example, specify knowledge about the feeding capacities of one's herds (ingestion and digestion, etc.), their nutritional demand (levels of physiological needs, animal self-regulation of nutrient distribution, capacity to store and mobilize body reserves, etc.) and about the allotment of animals (number and diversity of animals within a group, lead animal, etc.). But also about vegetation (periods and durations of (re)growth, growth rate, palatability, nutritional composition, plant degradation rate, vegetation renewal, etc.).

Review one's objective, or redefine priorities

For example, accept to more or less cover the animals' needs in a given group, more or less accept a plant considered invasive, accept that reducing work is a priority, etc.

Give oneself a time adapted to the biological reality of animals and vegetation

For example, learning of animals or evolution of genetic potential requires some time before seeing effects in the adult herd, as well as dietary transitions or activity rhythms of the herd, the evolution of the flora of a plot, the regrowth time of different species, etc.

Modify practices or specify technical details of management

For example, better organize vegetation harvesting over time (specify entry and exit states according to the evolution one wants to give to the flora), act on the grazing circumstances of animals (play on instantaneous stocking rate, modify dietary diversity in the animals' menu, manage herd activity rhythms...), on the learning of animals (education to eat fiber, diversify menu to improve ingestion capacity, manage under-coverage of needs...), etc.

Better observe, or change observation timings

For example, observe droppings, how animals harvest vegetation, rumen fill, how to manage nutritional deficit, identify heading of different grasses, color of leaves and stems, renewal capacity by sowing, etc.

Autres fiches Pâtur’Ajuste

Sources

SCOPELA, with the contribution of farmers. Technical sheet of the Pâtur’Ajuste network: Evaluate the result of one's practices. January 2022. Available at: https://www.paturajuste.fr/parlons-technique/ressource/ressources-generiques/Evaluer-le-resultat-de-ses-pratiques