Where we are at with deferred grazing research – and how you can play a part

Deferred grazing is a management tool to:

• Maintain pasture quality from mid-spring onwards. It involves dropping some paddocks out of the rotation, typically from the end of October until after seed-set, to optimise grazing pressure on the remaining paddocks and maintain pasture quality.
• Rejuvenate pastures. Energy reserves are replenished, root growth is increased and reseeding enables seedling recruitment.
• Provide drought feed. There is a large bank of accumulated (often low quality) feed at the end of the deferred period.
• Enable autumn pasture recovery. Grazing deferred paddocks at the end of summer allows covers to build up on the paddocks that are not deferred.

Prepared for On Farm Support, Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Bay of Plenty Regional Council