Specifying Grazing Practices

Beef cattle farming Farming Dairy cattle farming

Often, grazing practices are described too vaguely to fully understand the results obtained. This lack

of precision then prevents properly planning or managing practices over time according to the pursued objectives. This also explains why it is difficult to copy the neighbor’s practice! Finally, some people sometimes feel like they "do the same thing all year round" at the risk of forgetting to consider that animals and vegetation evolve over time. They therefore respond differently to a seemingly similar practice depending on the seasons.

It is therefore useful to recognize that designing a grazing practice:

Is setting a series of components whose combination will have very specific effects on the animal, the vegetation, and the work.
Is an action that is implemented and that will have specific consequences that can be anticipated. It is therefore a means, not an objective.
Is a decision made according to one’s know-how and constraints to achieve one’s own objectives while trying not to suffer the consequences.

Specifying grazing practices allows to:

Perceive the richness that composes a practice
Better integrate external constraints into decisions
Anticipate the consequences of a practice at each use
Help to understand the result obtained by implementing a practice
Know how to share what works on one’s own farm

Explaining the different components of a practice

A practice corresponds to the way the farmer organizes the encounter between animals and vegetation at a given time.

The farmer designs a practice at a given moment:

In a particular context, with constraints and concerns
Under the influence of factors beyond their control (climate...)
Pursuing an objective
Having at disposal a series of technical levers (or components...)

Characterizing the harvesting induced by the practice to understand its consequences

A practice conditions the behavior of the herd that will perform a harvest (and trampling) of the available vegetation. The harvest (or not) of the vegetation performed (its nature, level, distribution, etc.) has various consequences on the biological functions of the animals and vegetation that help shape them.

Example of a well-described practice

Description of the practice components

Start

Start time of use: August 1, 2021, late spring.
Characteristics of the herd brought by the farmer: 55 beef cows of Charolais breed, 47 calves aged between 3 and 8 months, 1 bull. The farmer does not know precisely what the cows know and like to eat… Very good body condition. High nutritional needs.
Characteristics of the available vegetation: On the slope: mature Brooms (fiber and nitrogen), young broom seedlings at their base, grasses dominated by yellowish oats matured but still quite green. On the rest of the plot: diverse herbaceous plants dominated by broad-leaved grasses (Woolly couch, orchardgrass...), some only leafy (because partly topped in spring) and others mature but the stem is still green.
Allocated grazing sector: 3.1 ha. One third on a slope and the other part flat at the bottom, south-facing, a wood on the west side which can offer shade. Water trough placed at the bottom of the plot.
Method of delimitation: fence, wire on one side and double flexible wire on the other side.

During

The farmer came several times to observe the cows and give them water. The animals had continuous access to this plot. The paddock remained the same throughout the period. The group remained the same throughout the period.

End

End time of use: August 8, 2021, late spring.
Condition of the herd at exit: Very good body condition of mothers and calves.
Condition of the remaining vegetation at exit: The form of mature Brooms is different (the branches around are no longer there), the young broom seedlings have disappeared. For a good part of the herbaceous layer, only about 5 cm remains. For a very small part of the herbaceous plants: a few stems remain.

Understanding the consequences of the harvests

Harvests by the animals

All animals present met their high needs (nursing by mothers, growth of young). The animals used the space homogeneously. They harvested all types of plants present (young grass, mature headed grass, broom branches...) and varied their types of food intake during the days. They ingested a lot of fiber, a lot of nitrogenous matter, and some soluble sugars.

Hypotheses on the consequences for the animals

The harvests made allow to orient a good body condition of the young grazers for future sale as well as a good condition of the cows. Moreover, the food intake made directs feeding skills towards better ingestion (knowledge, motivation…) and digestion of this type of vegetation…

Harvests of the vegetation

On the slope part (broom masses), the entire herbaceous layer is consumed. The young broom seedlings were therefore harvested. On the lower part, a few grass stems remain unharvested. Overall, the harvested herbaceous plants were well developed (not sensitive). Moreover, there was no harvesting on regrowth because there could be no regrowth in days during the slow growth season (late spring). The mature Brooms were partially harvested at the level of their lateral branches.

Hypotheses on the consequences for the vegetation

The Brooms should not expand in 2021 but their form becomes more open upwards. They will still be available for the following year. The herbaceous layer was able to build up many energy reserves, allowing it to restart more quickly and productively for autumn. The late use certainly allowed diversifying the cover. The remaining stems will still be available for the rest of the year, providing fiber for autumn for example…

Autres fiches Pâtur’Ajuste

Sources

SCOPELA, with the contribution of farmers. Technical sheet of the Pâtur’Ajuste network: Specify your grazing practices. May 2022. Available at: https://www.paturajuste.fr/parlons-technique/bibliotheque