Relation entre les hauteurs d'herbe mesurées à l'herbomètre et à la règle garduée

Relation entre les hauteurs d'herbe mesurées à l'herbomètre et à la règle garduée. Journées de l'Association Française pour la Production Fourragère (AFPF

HerbValo – a method for calculating annual pasture utilisation by dairy cows at paddock level

Better knowledge of pasture utilised by grazing dairy cows (in t DM ha-1 year (y)-1) would help farmers to analyse and improve their grazing management. This is the aim of HerbValo, a generic method designed to be used on commercial farms. This method combines recording grazing or cutting events at paddock level all year round and a spreadsheet for calculating pasture grazed or harvested per rotation and year. For the grazing events, the calculation takes into account the number of grazing days (herd size × residence time) at each rotation and the average daily intake per animal, estimated from a simple description of herd characteristics, 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 to weather conditions or management practices. Pasture utilisation averaged 9.4 ± 1.32 t DM ha-1 y-1 and ranged from 6.7 to 12.5 t DM ha-1 y-1 depending on paddock, year and management. Using this tool on a number of commercial farms will enable the provision of regional references on pasture utilisation by grazing livestock