RGP Tool Page 2 “Field Days” helps us to figure out how many days the flock can graze in each of our paddocks. A “Field Day” is a day that the flock spends in the pasture, grazing.
A Field Day might be short or long; it is too complicated in our lifestyle to manage at the level of Field Hours. Some days, we need the flock to stay out longer, and some days, they need to come in sooner to the night pens.
We want the grazing follow a Goldilocks principle: not too much; not too little; just right. What is “just right” takes into account the animals’ and the pasture’s well-being. We can suss out “just right” using RGP Tool Page 2 “Field Days.”
Start with Paddock Characteristics
Column 1 on RGP Tool Page 2 “Field Days” lists all our working paddocks.
Column 2 shows how many acres of land are available for grazing in each paddock. We describe how we got these numbers here.
Column 3 shows the soil type for each paddock. We describe how we found the soil types here.
Now We Move to Forage!
Columns 4 and 5 show how many pounds per acre of grass the paddock’s soil type grows. There are two figures: one for a “low” rain year (20 inches) and one for a “high” rain year (35 inches), as described here.
Columns 6 and 7 contain embedded formulas. They calculate how many pounds of forage per year are available in that particular grazing paddock in a “low” or a “high” rain year, respectively. OMG! Exciting!
Column 8 shows a constant, how many pounds per day of forage that the pasture must provide. (We calculated this constant here.)
Columns 9 and 10 show the Field Days per year that the paddock can provide in a low and high rain year, respectively. This is an important set of numbers! It helps answer the burning question: How long do we think that this flock at this weight ought to graze in this paddock this year?
Analyze the Results & Plan
It turns out that we don’t have a big enough flock here for a 20-inch rain year. A year has 365 days, and our land can provide 509.8 grazing days in a 20 inch rain year, based on our paddocks and our current flock body weight. We find this number 509.8 in the cell located on RGP Tool Page 2 “Field Days” at Column 9, Row 20. However:
- There may well be less than 20 inches of rain this year. We are in a drought right now. (We closely track rain at a local weather monitoring station)
- We would rather start low and go slow with flock size
- If we have more grass than we need, we can invite in grazing guests to increase the pressure on the land, or
- We can mow, or
- Our ewes can breed more sheep come autumn of 2021, to join the workforce in 2022
The numbers in Columns 9 and 10 allow us to plan where to put the animals each day of the year, which we do on Page 3 of the RGP Tool, “Tally.”