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Tallgrass prairie and a fence line in the Flint Hills, Kansas
Handy tools

Grazing rotation planner

How long will each paddock feed the herd, and will your pastures get the rest they need? Put in your paddocks, cattle and forage to see days per paddock, rest, days a lap and animal units.

Your rotation

How many paddocks (pasture cells) the herd moves through.

Days each paddock should rest (recover) before it is grazed again.

Grazing area of one paddock. 1 acre = 0.405 ha.

Your herd

Animals grazing together.

A rough average for the herd is fine.

Dry matter eaten a day: often about 2.5% for a beef cow on pasture. Use your own figure.

Your pasture

Forage on offer when the herd goes in: your estimate, a grazing stick or a clip-and-weigh.

The residual you want left when the herd moves out (take half, leave half is a common rule).

Optional: how fast your pasture is growing now. 0 to skip.

Your rotation

6.9 daysin each paddock
49 daysrest each paddock gets
7paddocks for 35 days’ rest

Each paddock feeds the herd for about 6.9 days, close to the 5 days per move that gives 35 days of rest. Your numbers roughly balance.

55days a lap
  • Grazing now
  • Resting - darkest is next in
Move every (for 35 days’ rest)
5 days
Feed on offer per paddock
10,400 lb DM
Herd eats a day
1,500 lb DM (30 lb a head)
Animal units (1 AU = 1,000 lb)
60 AU
Stock density while grazing
6.3 head/ac · 7,500 lb/ac
Grazing taken per paddock
52 AUD per acre
Forage after 35 days’ rest
about 2,900 lb DM/acre
Link to these numbers

How we work it out

  • Feed per paddock: (forage going in − forage to leave) × paddock size, in pounds (or kg) of dry matter.
  • Days in each paddock: feed per paddock ÷ what the herd eats a day (head × body weight × intake %).
  • Rest: while the herd is in one paddock the others rest, so rest = days in each paddock × (paddocks − 1). Forage after the rest = forage left + growth rate × rest days.
  • Animal units: head × body weight ÷ 1,000 lb (a 1,000 lb cow = 1 AU). AUD per acre = AU × days in a paddock ÷ its acres; 30.4 AUD = 1 AUM.

A planning estimate from your own numbers, assuming paddocks of a similar size and cover. Pasture grows at different speeds through the year (cool-season grass slows in the summer slump), so walk the paddocks and move stock on what you see. Your county Extension office or local NRCS office can help with a grazing plan for your pasture and stock. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. Short of feed? Try the feed budget calculator; for other units use the farm unit converter; AU, AUM and residual are in the farm words glossary.

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