What is strip grazing?
Strip grazing (or ‘ration’ grazing) is a winter management tactic which involves confining sheep into small areas or ‘strips’ in the paddock for short periods of time. Pasture is rationed to animals in the strip, and intake can be adjusted to achieve a target level of production (e.g. liveweight maintenance, controlled wool growth). Strip grazing is a tactic used to increase Feed on Offer (FOO) during winter, and is a valuable management tactic for woolgrowers wanting to increase stocking rates, maintain stocking rates in poorer seasons, or improve the quality of wool produced. By confining animals in a small area, this effectively removes the grazing pressure on the remaining pasture, resulting in higher leaf area and faster pasture growth in these ungrazed areas. Consequently, more feed is available which can allow potentially higher stocking rates and reduce the need for supplementary feed.
