Understanding ryegrass, for good management

"Dairy farmers, spending time actively managing pasture will, at the end of the day, save dollars," says Sue Hagenson, manager of national farm consultancy group FarmWise in LIC. The first and arguably most crucial step in achieving effective pasture management is understanding grass, she says. There are two sayings, which are very important to successful grass grazing management, says Sue. "They are: 1. It takes grass to grow grass. 2. If you look after your grass it will look after your cows, whereas if you look after your cows it doesn't mean that you are looking after your grass! Another feature of grazing management is that "˜you can't bury your mistakes' and any decisions that were wrong will certainly present themselves at a later date." Sue says the aim of grass management is to provide the highest quality grass to cows at all periods during the season, "and in doing so to maximise the amount of pasture grown and utilised." Sue says the definition of quality is, "maximum leaf, high digestibility (80 to 85%), high energy (+11.0 MJME "“ mega joules metabolisable energy) and minimum stem. "A ryegrass dominant sward thrives under rotational grazing management and both rotation length and grazing residual will influence growth. Hard grazing in the spring will promote clover growth while lax grazing in the spring will encourage non ryegrass species." Sue says the interval between grazings through each season should match growth of the ryegrass plant's re-growth to ensure high utilisation. "In early autumn a new leaf will be formed in 10 to 12 days and leaves begin to die off at 30 to 35 days therefore interval between grazings can be lengthened (30 to 45 days). "In early winter a new leaf will be formed in 20 to 30 days and leaves will begin to die after approximately 60 days therefore rotation lengths can be very long (60 to 90 days). "In spring a new leaf will be formed in six to eight days with the oldest leaf dying off 18 to 24 days. Therefore the interval between grazings should be < 24 days at peak growth."