Planned Grazing on ‘Lana’

Tim Wright - Balala-Brushgrove Landcare Group

Pinrush & Grazing Management Trials

The decision to introduce planned cell grazing at ‘Lana’ was made following a two-year trial of high density, short duration grazing in one section of the property from 1990 to 1992. During this period the content of undesirable species (in particular Arisida and Stipa) was markedly reduced in the trial area of about 600ha, thereby reducing the vegetable matter content of our wool.

Christine Jones and Judi Earl from the Department of Botany at the University of New England, commenced vegetation and soils monitoring in the newly fenced paddocks.

Tim Wright has spent the last three decades making 'Lana' more resilient to drought using a system of internal fences and watering points so cattle and sheep can be moved on with paddocks allowed to rest.
Image: courtesy of The Land newspaper.

The grazing method at ‘Lana’ represents a combination of teachings from Grazing for Profit and Holistic Management, we have termed this combination ‘planned cell grazing’.

The rest period is the most important factor to be considered. This is the period required for the regrowth of plants, taken from the time of being grazed to the complete recovery of the root and foliar structure. A plant which is re-bitten before full recovery is termed overgrazed, whilst one which remains ungrazed for an excessive period is termed over-rested. Mineral cycling slows down when plants are over-rested. Therefore, perennial grassland species need to be both grazed and rested, according to a strategic plan.

Mobs and herds were amalgamated into fewer, larger groups, and moved every 2-3 days through considerably smaller paddocks, allowing 3-4 months paddock rest time and minimising exposure to worm infestation. A whistle is used to move stock to an adjacent paddock, so there is minimal labour required and minimal stress on the animals.

Pasture utilisation has increased since planned cell grazing was implemented, and grain and hay have not been fed since. The carrying capacity of stock has increased by an average of 30%, at the same time as costs of production have been reduced 25-30%, due to reduced labour, machinery and animal health costs.

The ‘control’ paddocks, on which a subdividing fence was placed down the centre, one side remained conventionally grazed and the other side was cell grazed. The stock in the conventional paddocks always needed extra drenching, water supervision, feed supplements and generally lacked in condition, which was a hidden cost to our farm business. Over time, the carrying capacity of the cell grazed paddocks increased due to greater feed availability over a longer period of the year.

We attribute the increased productivity in our grazing cells to enhanced soil, plant and animal nutrition as a result of greater effectiveness of the water and mineral cycles, which in turn have improved biodiversity and plant community dynamics, and hence facilitated the capture of sunlight energy into animal product.