I see many overgrazed and bare paddocks as I drive out to clients and I often think that with a very simple regenerative grazing plan, these farms can see massive improvements to their pasture health, soil health and financial health. Without getting too complex into regenerative grazing, this is a very simple regenerative grazing plan that should get you 60% of the way there. I recommend starting with this plan and then adapting this plan to suit your specific conditions and context.
First watch the video below from our YouTube Channel Agresol
As mentioned, moving from continuous set stocking to regenerative grazing doesn’t require overcomplicating your farm; achieving a basic 60% management baseline dramatically restores degraded paddocks. By focusing on plant recovery periods, you prevent livestock from killing off preferred species through repeated grazing.
The Plant Growth Curve Continuous set stocking gives livestock free choice to repeatedly graze the best plants before they recover, depleting root energy reserves until the plant dies. Effective grazing management focuses on keeping pasture plants in active photosynthesis across three distinct stages:
Stage 1 (Reserve Use): Low biomass relying on stored energy from roots. Overgrazing occurs when stock repeatedly eat regrowth in this phase.
Stage 2 (Rapid Growth): The photosynthetic sweet spot where plants are self-reliant. Aim to graze from knee height down to ankle/boot height (~1,500 to 3,000+ kg DM/ha).
Stage 3 (Full Biomass): Maximum biomass where plants eventually cap out and self-shade.
Calculating Grazing & Recovery Times Rest periods must adapt to seasonal growth rates, extending from ~30 days in the active growing season to 60–90 days in non-growing periods. The average grazing duration per paddock is calculated using the following equation:
where GP represents the grazing period (days), RP is the required plant recovery period (days), and n is the total number of paddocks allocated to the mob.
The 11-Paddock Sweet Spot To balance infrastructure effort with ecological returns, combining livestock into a single mob across 11 paddocks provides an optimal starting framework:
| Season / Scenario | Target Recovery (R) | Grazing Period (G) per Paddock |
Active Growing Season
| 30 Days | 3 Days |
Moderate / Slow Growth
| 60 Days | 6 Days |
Dormant / Non-Growing
| 90 Days | 9 Days |
These are rough recovery periods for a high rainfall area and you must adjust your recovery times to what actually occurs on your farm.
Key Implementation Rules
Avoid the “Second Bite”: Never leave stock in a paddock longer than 7 days during the growing season to prevent them from re-grazing fresh regrowth.
Combine Mobs: Consolidate livestock into fewer herds to instantly increase the effective paddock count per mob without building extra internal fences.
Manage for Target Species: Base rest intervals on the slowest-recovering desirable pasture species rather than fast-recovering weeds.
Starting with an 11-paddock rotational plan allows you to monitor plant recovery and adjust stocking density dynamically using a basic grazing chart. Once this rotational baseline yields initial returns, you can evaluate whether further paddock subdivision or nutritional inputs are needed for your property.
To help with this, you can get a FREE Grazing chart here
