HerbValo – a method for calculating annual pasture utilisation by dairy cows at paddock level
2018
Delagarde, Remy | Robic, Yvane | Leurent-Colette, Ségolène | Delaby, Luc
Better knowledge of pasture utilised by grazing dairy cows (in t DM ha-1 year (y)-1) would help farmers toanalyse and improve their grazing management. This is the aim of HerbValo, a generic method designedto be used on commercial farms. This method combines recording grazing or cutting events at paddocklevel all year round and a spreadsheet for calculating pasture grazed or harvested per rotation and year. Forthe grazing events, the calculation takes into account the number of grazing days (herd size × residencetime) at each rotation and the average daily intake per animal, estimated from a simple description of herdcharacteristics, supplements, pasture type and quality, and grazing severity. No pasture measurements,such as pre- or post-grazing pasture heights, are required. A large 19-year experimental database (Le Pinau-Haras) was used to calculate the intra- and inter-annual variability of pasture utilisation, according toweather conditions or management practices. Pasture utilisation averaged 9.4 ± 1.32 t DM ha-1 y-1 andranged from 6.7 to 12.5 t DM ha-1 y-1 depending on paddock, year and management. Using this tool ona number of commercial farms will enable the provision of regional references on pasture utilisation bygrazing livestock.
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