Like most things, the answer to when to clip pastures is "it depends." What does it depend on? First and foremost, it depends on how much forage is being rejected by the animals. And that depends on how mature the forage is, how many times livestock has grazed the paddock since it was last clipped, and how much manure is building up in the paddock.

If a significant amount of forage is being rejected, this will decrease your livestock’s intake. Lactating dairy cows will tell you right away if they don't want to eat what's there or can't find what they need to eat – your milk tank shipment will drop. With other kinds and classes of livestock, it’s more difficult to determine when the time is right for clipping. Of course, the decision to clip also may depend on your own personal tolerance for how the pastures look.

Smaller paddocks and more frequent moves are management strategies that help reduce the need for clipping. Just like people when there is a limited quantity of food available, animals will graze more aggressively and do a better job of harvesting. In other words, they are less selective about what they eat.

With these management strategies, your paddocks are more likely to be grazed more evenly, and there will be less rejected forage. You’ll also have less waste due to trampling. Of course, this means you must move animals more frequently because they will run out of forage more quickly.

The return on more management is less clipping, less fuel and less time spent doing so.
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