Section 8 Table of Contents

Table 1.8-9. Suggested paddock sizes (A/animal unit) based on grazing period and available pasture in intensive rotational grazing system.

To calculate paddock size, multiply the suggested acres per unit by the animal units (see Table 1.8-7) in your grazing group.

Grazing period (days) Pasture utilization² (percent) Available pasture (lbs dry matter/A)
750 1,000 1,500
    --- A/animal unit¹ ---
  1. One animal unit = feed requirements of a 1,000 -lb dry cow (25 lbs dry matter/day).
  2. These are estimates of the percentage of pasture actually consumed. Utilization is usually improved as grazing pressure is increased.
1 80 0.042 0.031 0.021
2 75 0.089 0.067 0.044
3 75 0.133 0.100 0.067
4 70 0.190 0.143 0.095
5 65 0.256 0.192 0.128
6 60 0.333 0.250 0.167
7 60 0.389 0.292 0.194