How to manage pastures for better animal nutrition in summer?

In summer many of the animals are on the pastures. Whether the animals manage to obtain the necessary nutrients and what the correct management of the pastures depends on, you can read in the material prepared by the nutrition specialists of HL-TopMix:

Pasture management

The main differences between summer and spring pasture are that there are summer dry areas and also different grass growth rates due to reduced moisture. In our country, due to the climatic conditions, pastures burn much earlier than those in other parts of Europe.

Pasture aid

During summer in dry, unirrigated areas, high air temperatures and lack of moisture can cause dead (dry) areas to accumulate in the pasture area. This can increase the percentage of dry matter and fiber content, but also reduce the quality of the grass mass taken. All this should be taken into account when allocating daily grazing.

Avoid overgrazing

Excessive grazing in the summer leads to a decrease in the quality of the pastures, since the energy / nutrients / of the plants are mainly contained in the lower parts of the stem - up to 4 cm. This leads to a delay in the re-restoration of the pastures in the presence of moisture, e.g. after the autumn rains. Overgrazing during this period can lead to depletion of vegetation, which has negative consequences for the sustainability of long-term pastures.

Monitor the condition of pastures so that they are in good condition even after heavy rainfall.

Ways to reduce overgrazing:

• Use summer crops;
• Limit consumption;
• The use of open areas in the farm itself;
• Use plugins.

It is important that the height of the grass in the summer is kept no higher than 4.5 cm, because this would cause it to rot during rainfall. On the other hand, areas that are at risk of grassland depletion would deteriorate if grass height is not maintained, as it begins to rot from the roots and is unable to re-sprout.