Although the land in a cell benefits most when livestock run in a single herd, some situations may call for running two or more herds in the same cell. You can do this in three ways:
• Move separate herds among all paddocks while keeping recovery times adequate.
• Allocate certain paddocks to each herd and plan each division as a subcell.
• Have one herd enter a paddock as another leaves (follow-through grazing).
None of these strategies should be attempted if you have few or very uneven paddocks, because grazing periods will prove to be unacceptably long.
The first option might be used when you wish to give a smaller herd, such as steers you plan to sell, a larger area to select from. The larger herd will go through those same paddocks at some point, but at higher density, which means each animal has less area to select from.
You might choose the second option because you have to separate some animals to run in a few paddocks close to the house or barn, but you want the main herd moving through the rest of the paddocks.
Although follow-through grazing is particularly tricky to plan, it sometimes fills certain needs best. For instance, when herds require different levels of nutrition, such as first-calf heifers and mature cows, or, commonly in dairy operations, where you have high-performing cows, followed by average cows, then nonmilkers.
The following section, “Creating Your Plan,” tells how to compute average grazing periods for each herd. Figure 2.B presents two follow-through grazing cases. Equal paddocks cause no problem, though plants are exposed to animals for twice the grazing period of one herd. Putting two herds in Cell II could involve some heavy mathematics.
In practice the following guidelines plus careful and continual monitoring will usually serve:
• If one herd is small, you might key all moves to the larger herd. Holding a small number longer than desirable in smaller paddocks will not hurt much. (But still calculate the ADA/H.)
• If the moves progress from larger to smaller paddocks, the following herd can skip an occasional paddock and catch up.
• If moves progress from smaller to larger paddocks, the lead herd can skip ahead, while the following herd actually makes the first grazing of the intervening smaller paddocks.
Note that when one herd skips a paddock, you shorten recovery times. So try to plan similar paddocks in sequence.
Before you decide to run more than one herd in a cell, use the method described in the box “Deciding the Number of Herds” (under “Mastering the Basics” in part 2) for deciding the number of herds. Think of the consequences to the land, livestock, other land uses, and the degree of management each alternative requires. Then make your decision.
Record your decision on the Grazing Plan & Control Chart in row 25. For two herds of 100 and 500 animals, respectively, enter 2/100–500. If you plan a follow-through grazing, note which herd goes first (the size of the first herd will affect the performance of the following herd). If you have 50 replacement heifers followed by 250 cows, for example, enter 2/50h–250c. For dairy animals you might have three herds—highyield milkers, the main group, and nonmilkers; you could enter 3/20h–40m–34n. Use whatever abbreviations are clearest to you.
Follow-Through Grazing Planning
Cell I: Follow-through grazing with 12 days in equal paddocks gives 60 days recovery.
Cell II: The follow-through plan below gives 60 - 105 days recovery in unequal paddocks.
Figure 2.B. In Cell I, equal paddocks cause no problem, though plants are exposed to animals for twice as long as they would be with one herd. In Cell II, planning for two herds would likely involve a lot of arithmetic.
In Step 11 (Open-Ended Plan) and Step 13 (Closed Plan) of the Aide Memoire, use the following formulas to calculate average grazing periods. Note: You can download a simple Excel spreadsheet developed by Savory Institute Associate Consultant Bruce Ward, which does these calculations for you at www.savoryinstitute.com (go to “Products and Learning Resources” and select “Grazing Period Calculator”).
Two or More Herds Using Any Paddock in the Cell
• Open-Ended Plan:
• Closed Plan:
Example: If you had a nongrowing season of 180 days, 50 paddocks, two herds, and two selections, your average grazing period would be 3.6 days. You should include the full decimal figure for now but round it off to the nearest whole number when you calculate actual grazing periods for the nongrowing period and drought reserve. Record those average days in row 28 under each month (e.g., 2.9–11.7, open-ended plan; or 3.6, closed plan).
Two or More Herds with Certain Paddocks Allocated to Each Herd
• Open-Ended Plan: In this case you are going to have to calculate four average grazing periods—two per herd.
–Herd one:
– Herd two: Repeat the above calculations using the number of paddocks you have allocated to the second herd.
– Record all four of these average grazing periods in row 28 (e.g., 3.6–11.7 / 2.5–6.6). Note: If you are using this policy (two or more herds, paddocks allocated), go to column 3 and color-code which paddocks are to be used by each herd. This information will be needed in calculating actual grazing periods.
• Closed Plan: In this case you are going to have to calculate two average grazing periods—one per herd for both the nongrowing months and the drought reserve period.
• Herd one:
• Herd two: Repeat the above calculations using the number of paddocks you have allocated to the second herd. Example: If you had a nongrowing season of 180 days, 100 paddocks, and two selections, and you allocated 25 paddocks to heifers and 75 paddocks to the cow herd, the average grazing period would be 3.6 days for the heifers and 1.2 days for the cow herd. You should include the full decimal figure for now but round it off to the nearest whole number after calculating actual grazing periods.
• Record both figures under each month in row 28 in both the nongrowing period and drought reserve (e.g., h/3.6–c/1.2). Note: If you are using this policy (two or more herds, paddocks allocated), go to column 3 and color-code which paddocks are to be used by each herd. This information will be needed in Steps 12 and 13.
Two or More Herds on Follow-through Grazing
• Open-Ended Plan: If you are using one recovery period, calculate one grazing period. That grazing period will be used by each herd. For example, if you had two herds and a two-day grazing period, the first herd would be in each paddock two days on average, and the second herd the next two days. The paddock would thus have animals in it for four days (2 herds × 2 days).
If you are using a range of recovery periods, calculate two average grazing periods. The same now applies, except the lower figure will guide the speed of moves in fast growth, and the higher figure will guide the speed of moves in poor growing conditions. This is very difficult to manage if you lack experience or if paddocks are uneven in size or quality.
Record these average grazing periods in row 28 (e.g., 3.5, or 1.2-4.3).
• Closed Plan: You will calculate only one grazing period, but that grazing period will be used by each herd. For example, if you had two herds and a two-day grazing period, the first herd would be in each paddock two days on average, and the second herd the next two days. The paddock would thus have animals in it for four days (two herds × two days) on average. (One selection is the norm with two or more herds on follow-through grazing.)
Example: If you had a nongrowing season of 180 days, 100 paddocks, and two herds on follow-through, your grazing period would be 1.8 days for each herd. Each herd would spend 1.8 days on average in each paddock. You should include the full decimal figure for now but round it off to the nearest whole number after calculating actual grazing periods. Record both figures under each month in row 28 for the nongrowing period and drought reserve (e.g., 1.8–1.8).
Calculating Actual Grazing Periods
Factor in paddock productivity as you did for a single herd in Step 11 (Open-Ended Plan) and Step 13 (Closed Plan) of the Aide Memoire, and use the same formula in each case:
Distinguishing One Herd from Another
When plotting the grazings in Step 14, use symbols or special lines to distinguish one herd from another (as shown in the figure) and note which symbol or line represents each herd in the “Remarks” section at the bottom of the chart.