Grazing observation

[cheekychops]

Just thinking out loud really

I've noticed at our yard, that where fields have been rested then opened up for winter, or strip grazed, the grass is finished. However the fields/or areas of fields that have been consistently grazed all year round look much better and still have green growth. We haven't managed our field at all and we are not needing to feed hay yet.
I was thinking next year of fencing off part of our field to save for winter, but now I'm inclined to leave it as our grass stands a better chance of lasting longer if consistently grazed.

Does this make sense?

[Deleted]

Yes it makes sense. As the grass grows longer the stems of the grass lower down are shaded from the sun and so the chlorophyll (the green pigment) which use sunlight to produce sugars grow towards the tips of the grass leaf, so lower down the leaf near to the gound the grass looks more yellowy. That yellowy stuff is often more fibrous and less sugary which is why the horses often choose not to eat it if there is shorter sweeter stuff available.

The main consideration with keeping fields grazed all year is that the shorter greener grass might not be providing enough fibre like the longer stuff would so you might need to supplement with hay even if they're keeping their weight up. If their poo gets at all loose or they poo less, or if they start getting hyper I'd take that as a sign they're getting too much sugar and not enough fibre from the grass.

[Deleted]

P.s. When we rested a field last year, it looked like after a couple of weeks the horses had trampled and wasted all the long grass but they hadn't, by spring they'd eaten it all, it just looked a bit messy in the inbetween stage.

[cheekychops]

Thanks Michelle - I am learning! I guess because it's been so darn wet the long grass just looks trampled in the mud. Poos look ok and he has a chaff feed in the morning.
Maybe I will resurrect my plan to create a track around the outside of the field and save the centre for winter.

[specialized]

A lot will depend on density of horses. Usually when strip-grazing or turning horses out on rested ground there are often more horses turned out to take advantage of the fresh grass, but if the number of horses on the unrested field is smaller then the grass will last longer.

[shan]

What about grass self-seeding though? I was always torn between letting the grass seed and keeping it a little bit grazed, so I used to try & do a bit of both!

[specialized]

That is why we take a hay crop and try to rotate the fields that are cropped. If the grass is not allowed to complete a full cycle year after year the quality of the sward will reduce - hence intensively farmed grassland being re-sown after about 5 years.

[cheekychops]

That makes sense as our density is very low density - just the 3 on a huge field. The YO used to rotate the fields and take a hay crop but now he has filled the yard chocca block so can't see how he will do this next year.