Interactive Tools

Some Notes On Using This Calculator:

This calculator takes the stocking rate calculator and expands it to include the mathematics behind developing paddocks. This version uses your known paddock size to figure out how long you need to stay in that paddock. 

The important things you will need are the following:

• The size of the paddock: Since this calculator (as mentioned below) is meant for individual paddocks, and not a collective group like in the Rotational Grazing calculators you can find in the Pasture Management Workbook page, you only need to submit the size of the individual paddock in question.
• The estimated (or calculated from forage samples) forage yield for your pasture: this plays a huge role in how many animals you can have on the pasture. The greater the yield, the more animals you can have. The opposite is also true: the lower the yield, the fewer animals you should have.
• Utilization rate: This is the amount of forage you want animals to remove, trample, and defecate on before being moved to the next paddock. Typically, utilization rates are higher for tame pastures than native grassland, as you should be concerned with conservation of native habitat and sensitive species compared with tame pastures, which have largely very common, graze-tolerant species. Tame pastures typically range from 40 to 70% utilization rates, and native grasslands should have less than 50% utilization, ideally 25 to 30% utilization by the herd or flock. It’s crucial to keep in mind that the higher the utilization rate, the longer animals need to stay away from that paddock to allow the vegetation to fully recover. Overgrazing can occur, meaning desirable species may gradually depopulate and undesirable species that are lower in productivity or less palatable can move in. Unless you have trained your animals to eat weeds, you want to be careful about setting—and keeping—to your utilization rates.
• The average animal body weight of your herd and percent daily intake by bodyweight: Take all the grazing animals in your herd or flock, including breeding males, and average out the body weight for the herd. Remember, the heavier the animal, the more they will eat. Percent daily intake tends to not change drastically for most animals, however it tends to change between species and between dairy versus meat animals. Dairy animals have higher nutritional demands than most meat animals (including those suckling with young), thus the percent intake by bodyweight will be higher. Consult Table 3 in the Pasture Management Workbook for more information.