Inside Dairy - Planning for pasture renewal

Planning for pasture renewal

Autumn is the key season for renewing pastures and setting up next season’s feed supply. You’ll get the best results by following these three core principles.

Inside Dairy

2 min read

Healthy, productive pastures are the backbone of a successful farm. When growth slows or the preferred species composition declines, renewal helps paddocks thrive again. Renewal can be achieved in several ways – from grass-to-grass to introducing a crop in between, or undersowing – depending on your farm’s goals and timing.

To get the most of your investment, follow three core principles from DairyNZ’s updated Pasture Renewal Guide 2025:

Plan your pasture renewal programme six to 18 months before sowing.
Choose the appropriate method of renewal.
Manage new pastures carefully in their first year.

Ryegrass pastures persist through the growth of tillers – small shoots with a growing point at the base that produce new leaves.

Each tiller lives for about a year, so for a pasture to remain productive, new tillers must replace old ones.

Good management includes avoiding grazing too early or allocating too much area too quickly.

How pastures respond depends on grazing management: frequency, intensity and timing all influence tiller size and number.

Frequent, intense grazing produces many small tillers, while longer rotations result in fewer, larger tillers. Both can deliver similar growth, but grazing decisions also affect pasture quality.

Grazing between the two- and three-leaf stage, and maintaining a consistent post-grazing height of 3.5-4cm, helps maximise growth, persistence and quality for future rotations.

This autumn, pasture management can make a big difference to how well new and existing paddocks recover. With moisture stress lifted, ryegrass starts rebuilding tiller density. Giving plants time to grow before grazing improves persistence.

Good management includes holding a longer rotation after a dry period, similar to or longer than summer, and avoiding grazing too early or allocating too much area too quickly.

Recommended rotation lengths are around 30-40 days in March and April, extending to 50-60 days in May.

If post-grazing residuals fall below 1500kg DM/ha, consider adjusting rotation length, supplementing feed, or reducing herd demand to protect pasture recovery.

Conversely, if residuals are consistently higher than 1750kg DM/ha, feed can be pushed forward into winter or supplementary feeding can be reduced.