August to November can be a very busy time for UK farmers. This is generally when spring lambs are finishing if you favour grass based feeding. You need to be careful here though if you want the best results. Critically, you need to decide which grazing strategy to use. It generally comes down to a choice between set stocking or rotational grazing. Let’s have a closer look at them both and the impacts on things like wormer use.

Set stocking

The traditional grazing strategy is to keep animals on a paddock for a long period, typically for weeks but sometimes for even longer. It’s a simple, low input option that requires very little labour and minimal infrastructure. Crucially, it also puts less stress on animals.

However, while there are benefits, set stocking can cause some problems. For example, it can lead to overgrazing, affecting regrowth and lowering pasture quality over time.

Set stocking can be particularly bad for finishing lambs. The major thing here is leaving animals on the same paddock for a long time can potentially increase the risk parasite burden. It can affect growth rates and body condition scores. In the worst cases you will need to use more wormer.

Rotational grazing

The alternative is to move animals to new paddocks regularly. This can provide several advantages, including preventing overgrazing and boosting pasture growth. Even better, it reduces the potential parasite burden and can break the cycle if you leave long gaps between each graze.

As you can probably guess, the main drawback here is this is a more labour intensive grazing strategy. It also requires careful planning, ensuring you know when and where to move animals. Plus, it requires extra infrastructure, including providing water, shelter, and fencing in more fields.

What to do?

In most cases the best thing to do is actually a hybrid of set stocking and rotational grazing. This can provide a balance of benefits for the animals and fields. It can also help you to ensure you are using wormer more effectively.

Set stocking is ideal when you want to reduce stress on animals, including during lambing. You can then rotate animals to different paddocks for other periods, reducing parasite pressure and improving paddock recovery.

Do you need details about different types of wormer?

JS Hubbuck Ltd is very proud to have been supporting farmers in the UK for decades. We’re committed to providing the best service every time. As part of this, we can share product knowledge to help you make the right purchasing decisions.

So, get in touch and talk to us about wormers, fertiliser, feeds, and more.