How do you know when it's time to renovate your pastures?

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Hi, I’m Sarah, and today I’m here to answer a common question: How do you know when it’s time to renovate your pastures?

For those who don’t know me, here’s a quick intro. I was born and raised on a farm so I understand the problems farmers face, I have experience selling Delmade machinery and have worked as a part of the sales team for quite a few years – so I have the knowledge to find the machine that’s going to work for your situation, and in my spare time I’m knocking out a Batchelor of Ag Science Degree in the hope of rounding out my knowledge.

Let's dive right in...

Pastures are a key component in livestock productivity, especially in Tasmania’s temperate climate where our high rainfall makes producing productive pastures the cheapest feed option for stock. So the less productive your pasture is the less productive your livestock are. But how do you know when to renovate your pastures? Over time productivity can decrease for several reasons such as age, weed invasion, overgrazing and soil degradation, in this article we discuss some of the things you can do to assess your pastures.

Visual Methods to Assess Pasture Health

One of the easiest and most effective methods of assessing your pastures is visually, there are several ways to do this but one of the easiest and most cost effective ways is with a quadrat, a timber or metal square generally around 400mm - 500mm (best of all you can easily make your own!). Once you have your quadrat the idea is to walk through a transect of the pasture or move at random and throw the quadrat to section off a square of pasture and measure repeatedly, until you have a sample you think represents the paddock size well. How technical you want to get with your measurements is up to you.

Common ways are to look at the quadrat and estimate what you think the percentage of desired species vs weeds is and then average out the results. Or you can divide it into species and rank them eg, Ryegrass, Clover, Weeds. Either way, the aim is to work out the percentage of weeds vs desired species in the pasture. As a rule anything over 30% weed content is something that you may want to consider renovating.

Photo: Sample Quadrant

(Reference: https://www.flickr.com)

For a detailed guide on how to use the Contribution by Species to Botanical Composition Calculation and free downloadable templates view our article on how to Rank Your Pasture using the Contribution by Species to Botanical Composition Calculation here.

Aside from measuring the species content, there are other visual indicators to consider, the amount of bare ground in the pasture where nothing is growing can be a good indicator, 10-20% is mild to moderate 20-40% is moderate to severe degradation. A general decline in the volume of pasture growing can also indicate problems, these may relate to the age of the pasture, the grazing intensity or the health of the soil and its nutrient availability.

Assessing your soil can also be another visual indicator, grab a shovel and have a dig, things to look at are how deep your root system goes into the soil, is the soil light and well structured, is there good organic matter and worms present? If you don’t feel confident in what you are looking for or want a really comprehensive overview of your soil, you cannot beat doing a soil test.

Professional Soil Tests

A professional soil test may be an added cost but in the long run, it can save you money, from it you will know the levels of the key macronutrients (N,P,K,Ca,S,Mg) available in the soil, how much Organic Matter and Organic Carbon there is, the bulk density of the soil and of course your pH, along with a range of other useful indicators. These tests can often give you a lot of information regarding why your pastures may not be performing and allow you to correct the problems during the renovation process ensuring your new pastures get off to the best possible start. There are a lot of variances in the nutritional needs of differing soil types so if you aren’t sure what you should be aiming for in your soil type talking to an agronomist can save you a lot in the long run.

As an example, if you have sandy soil it’s likely that it may lack Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), which means it easily leeches nutrients like N as it doesn’t have the exchange sites available to hold onto it. So in this case adding lime or an organic amendment increases the amount of exchange sites within the sandy soil and will potentially save you money as more of the N added will become available to plants, and stay within the soil for longer reducing the volume of synthetic N fertiliser you need to apply.

Choosing Between Spot Spraying or Full Renovation for Your Pastures

Generally, pastures will naturally decline after around 7-10 years after sowing, depending on management practices, but even when renovation is required there are different options you can consider, if the weed content is moderate, selective herbicide spraying and direct drilling back into the pasture may be a suitable option, direct drilling may also work if the soil nutrients are good but productivity is low. If the pasture is lacking productivity and the soil is not healthy and well structured perhaps a full renovation is the best option.

Renovating your pastures might feel like a daunting task, but it’s one of the most impactful steps you can take to boost livestock productivity and profitability. By assessing your pastures carefully—looking at species composition, weed content, bare ground, and soil health—you’ll have a clear picture of where improvements are needed.

Whether you choose to spot spray weeds, direct drill into existing pasture, or go for a full renovation, remember that small, well informed decisions can lead to significant results. Soil tests, professional advice, and proper planning can save you money and ensure that your efforts deliver long term benefits.

The health of your pastures is the foundation of your farm’s success. So, don’t put it off—grab a quadrat, dig into the soil, and start assessing today. The sooner you take action, the sooner you’ll see your pastures thrive, your livestock flourish, and your farm reach its full potential.

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