Winter Grazing

Consider using on-off grazing in wet conditions. This system minimises pugging damage to pasture by decreasing the time cows spend grazing on a pasture. Cows tend to graze actively for about 2-3 hrs then sit down, then walk around browsing. On-off grazing involves putting cows in a new paddock for 2-3 hrs and then removing them to a cow yard, section of track, feed pad or sacrifice paddock.
If planning to use a sacrifice paddock, the paddock for the next fodder crop may be a good choice.
Block/strip graze larger paddocks using a back fence to prevent cows from back grazing and causing further damage to the previous days pasture.

Rectangular paddocks will aid in making strip grazing, mowing and moving cattle easier. If grazing strips are more squarish rather than rectangular, there will be less treading damage during wet periods. In long, narrow strips cows tend to walk up and down more looking for feed.

A feedpad used for on-off grazing. Photographs by: Rawdon Sthradher (Fine Focus Photography).

If large paddocks are grazed over 3-5 days cows will selectively graze the best pasture first, then walk and pug the remainder of the paddock in the following days. Allocating a daily allowance of pasture to the herd, cows will normally eat their allowance in the first few hours if enough pasture is available. If not, some supplementary feeding may be required. This ensures that the cows have fresh uncontaminated pasture for the next grazing and that damage to pasture and soil is reduced.

When feeding out hay, avoid rolling it down hills as this can lead to slipping and sliding damage from cattle hooves.