Increasing pasture growth heading into winter

WITH autumn resulting in less than favourable conditions across a lot of the state, many farmers are going into winter with less pasture in front than desired.

Agriculture Victoria Livestock Extension Officer Fiona Baker said pasture growth rates during winter can be doubled, through good grazing and pasture management.

“In June 2016, a farm in southern Victoria compared grazed strategies of two paddocks side by side,” Ms Baker said.

“One paddock was grazed for two days, the other grazed for six days, both paddocks were strip-grazed, but stock were not excluded from re-grazing areas they had been the day before.

“A month later, when pasture growth rates were measured, the paddock grazed for two days had double the growth rate of the one that was grazed six days (18kgDM/ha/day).

“The difference in leaf size of the regrowing pastures was also vastly different between the two,” she said.

Running temporary troughs off the main trough and moving the new strip, or fencing it behind, can help to minimise the effects of back-grazing in the system and further increase growth rates.

Another alternative to improving winter feed growth is using urea.

“With fodder costs rising this winter, urea can be a very cost-effective means of growing extra feed.

“An application of nitrogen fertiliser is most efficient when applied at rates between 60-100kg Urea per hectare.

“If growth conditions are moderate (soil temperature is above 12 degrees and plants have reasonable leaf area and moisture) response rates should be around 10:1.

“It is important that stock are kept off the paddock for 21 days post urea application, as nitrate toxicity can be a concern if grazed too early,” Ms Baker said.

A third option is to use gibberellic acid, which is a naturally occurring plant hormone. Generally, the colder the day time temperatures, the better the response.

The rapid plant growth that can occur through the use of gibberellic acid leads to plants often being lighter in colour, however this doesn’t affect the quality of feed on offer.

Ideally, stock should be kept off the pastures for three weeks after application, to allow maximum response.