Article summary: In spring, the risk is not “not enough feed”, it’s feed getting away from you and turning rank. The core levers are simple: shorten the rotation, increase grazing pressure, and remove surplus early for silage/hay. Use conservation strategically to protect quality, not as an afterthought once paddocks are overgrown. Back fertiliser decisions with soil tests, and remember conservation removes nutrients. Dairy and beef priorities differ, but the playbook is the same: protect quality and utilisation.
Spring can feel like a gift, until it turns into a problem.
Growth rates lift, covers climb, and suddenly pasture that was perfect last week is long, stemmy, and getting walked into the ground. Once pasture goes rank, you pay twice: animals eat less of it, and you lose regrowth speed and quality in the next round.
Agriculture Victoria’s spring guidance nails the real issue: rotational grazing in spring is about keeping pasture vegetative and reducing waste, and most blow-outs come from rotations that are simply too slow for the growth in front of you.
Here’s a universally useful playbook you can apply whether you call it a grazing platform, milking area, cell system, or set of paddocks.
The spring objective: keep it vegetative, keep it moving
In a flush, your job is to convert fast growth into:
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high intake
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high utilisation
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repeatable regrowth
That means you want pasture grazed before it “turns”, and you want surpluses removed early so the rest of the farm stays on the right round length.
Step 1: Set simple quality targets (so you know when you’re winning)
You do not need perfect numbers to get this right. You do need clear targets for:
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When you enter a paddock (pre-grazing target)
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When you leave (post-grazing residual)
If you are running ryegrass-based systems, Dairy Australia’s spring guide is a helpful benchmark:
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graze at roughly the 2 to 2.5 leaf stage
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aim for a 4 to 6 cm post-grazing residual
Even if your pasture mix differs, the principle still holds: graze while the plant is still in a leafy, high-energy phase, and leave enough residual to drive rapid recovery.
Step 2: Shorten the rotation before it gets away from you
In spring, rotation length is a dial, not a rule.
When growth accelerates, you often need to shorten the round to keep grazing pressure up and prevent maturity. If you wait until pasture is already rank, you are playing catch-up.
Simple indicators your rotation is too slow:
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you are consistently walking into paddocks that look “too good to waste”
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animals start refusing stemmy areas or leaving clumps behind
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you see seedheads or canopy closure starting to appear
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your average covers are rising week to week without a clear plan to remove surplus
Action: shorten the round and make the next 7 to 14 days about quality, not maximum bulk.
Step 3: Increase grazing pressure (without damaging regrowth)
If the pasture is trying to outrun demand, you either:
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increase demand, or
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reduce the area you are asking animals to tidy up each day.
Practical ways to lift grazing pressure:
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tighten allocations (smaller breaks, more frequent moves)
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increase mob density (bring mobs together where it makes sense)
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add demand strategically (youngstock, trading animals, or shifting stock classes onto the area that needs control)
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protect regrowth with back-fencing where relevant, so what you’ve just grazed can bounce back cleanly
You are aiming for a consistent graze that leaves a uniform residual, not a patchwork of under- and over-grazing.
Step 4: Take the surplus out early (tactical conservation)
This is where a lot of spring management is won or lost.
Agriculture Victoria’s advice is straightforward: take paddocks out of the rotation for silage or hay to increase grazing pressure on what remains, helping maintain pasture quality.
Think of conservation as a tool to protect quality on the rest of the farm.
How to do it well:
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identify paddocks that are clearly surplus to requirements
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drop them out early, while the feed is still high quality
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cut at the right time so you do not bank a shed full of low-value forage
If you use nitrogen to grow extra surplus for conservation, Agriculture Victoria’s silage checklist includes an important practical guardrail: if you apply N for silage, avoid delaying cutting too long afterwards, because quality can slide quickly.
Silage vs hay: a simple decision rule
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Silage suits “get it off fast” and protects quality when weather windows are tight.
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Hay suits when you can reliably dry, and you want long storage and flexibility.
Either way, the win is not just the conserved feed. The win is keeping the grazing rotation clean and vegetative.
Step 5: Fertilise strategically (and only with soil tests)
Spring fertiliser can be high leverage, but only if it is targeted.
Agriculture Victoria’s guidance is blunt for a reason: soil testing is essential so fertiliser is applied based on what the soil requires, not an estimate. They also recommend soil tests at least every few years, ideally when moisture allows.
Two extra points that matter in spring:
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Wet winters can shift nutrient availability and losses (what worked last year may not be right this year).
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Conservation removes nutrients. If you harvest silage or hay, you export fertility. Agriculture Victoria highlights phosphorus and potassium as key nutrients to consider replacing after fodder removal.
Practical approach:
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soil test, then prioritise paddocks that give the best response
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align fertiliser with the feed plan (grazing pressure and conservation plan)
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treat “fertilise without a soil test” as a known profit leak
Dairy vs beef: same playbook, different emphasis
Dairy focus: protect residuals and intake
Your biggest spring risk is pasture quality dropping and cows losing appetite, right when lactation demands are high.
Prioritise:
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tight residual control (avoid the “half-grazed” look)
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high-quality leaf, not bulk
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early surplus removal so the rotation stays fast and consistent
Beef focus: protect liveweight gain and utilisation
Beef systems often have more flexibility in timing, but once pasture gets rank, intake and gains fall away fast.
Prioritise:
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maintaining leafy pasture for consistent growth rates
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using tactical conservation to stop paddocks getting ahead
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matching stock class to feed quality (finishing animals need the best feed)
Common mistakes that create rank feed (and wasted growth)
Common spring mistakes
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Leaving rotations too long, then trying to “fix it” with topping after the damage is done
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Chasing growth without utilisation (covers climb, quality drops, regrowth slows)
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Locking up paddocks too late for conservation, producing low-quality silage/hay
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Fertilising without soil tests, or pushing nutrients into paddocks that cannot respond
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Trying to graze everything instead of removing surplus early and lifting pressure elsewhere
A 7-day spring reset checklist
If spring is getting away from you, do this this week:
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Shorten the round (set a new target based on current growth, not last month’s plan)
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pick 1 to 3 surplus paddocks and lock them up early for silage/hay
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tighten allocations so residuals are consistent
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walk the farm (or use your pasture data) to confirm which paddocks are racing ahead
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book soil tests or review recent results before any major fertiliser spend
How Pasture.io helps you stay ahead of the flush
Spring management is easier when you can see the trend before it becomes a problem.
Pasture.io helps you:
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monitor growth and covers across the farm so surplus is visible early
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keep a clean feed wedge and rotation plan as conditions change
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record grazing and conservation events by paddock, so you can learn what worked
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link fertiliser and conservation decisions back to pasture performance over time
In spring, the best operators are not the ones who grow the most grass. They are the ones who keep it edible, utilisable, and repeatable.
- The Dedicated Team of Pasture.io, 2025-11-18