Excess grass herbage can be removed and made into hay bales.
(Source: Beef Magazine)
Introduction
Summer grazing practices which utilise all the available veld grass lead to veld deterioration. Thus, it is advised, that at the end of summer on grassland, 20 – 30% of the season’s growth should remain unutilised on a well-managed farm. In good management systems, most of this ungrazed veld will be confined to specific areas of the farm, such as rested camps or camps due for a rest during the following season. Attempts to keep all camps grazed to the same degree are seldom good management. The camps should vary concerning the amount of ungrazed material remaining and between one-quarter and one-third of the farm should have been rested. The rested areas and additional camps, which have not been possible to utilise to a reasonable extent during summer, are candidates for burning if they are not utilised during winter.
The old unutilised material which remains on the veld (in August, in the summer rainfall areas), if excessive, will lead to low animal intake in the short-term and deterioration of the grazing value, particularly of sourveld, in the long term if it is not removed. (Sourveld and sweetveld differ primarily because the former is unpalatable on maturity while old material on sweetveld will normally be grazed.)
A burn will remove this material and will provide new nutritious growth. Similar considerations apply in the winter rainfall, sourveld area where a fire is used to remove obstructive unpalatable material and to stimulate palatable new growth. The old material can also be mowed or grazed off with the aid of licks. Mowing of veld does achieve the same object as burning yet with fewer disadvantages. If done during the growing season it can provide valuable hay. However, not all areas are mowable and because of relatively low yields, the overhead costs and energy inputs of haymaking from veld tend to be excessive. Licks and sprays when supplied on winter veld may stimulate the appetite of the grazing animal and thus induce it to consume otherwise unpalatable material. However, the more acceptable plant species tend to be grazed shorter than the unpalatable ones. Overgrazing of the palatable species can take place in winter and will lead to their deterioration.
These considerations apply but to a lesser extent in the mixed veld and in sweetveld because it is more subject to droughts and high summer temperatures and because the old material is palatable. The need for burns to remove surplus material seldom arises. When burns are required in sweetveld for this or other purposes, they should be followed by a long rest of up to six months.