This period is especially important when some overgrazing is evident in the pasture. If the pasture is grazed very close to the ground, the lack of leaf material causes slower regrowth for up to two weeks. After this time, regrowth proceeds at the same rate as it would if clipped at higher heights. If the pasture is not clipped, growth stops after heading occurs. On large continuously grazed pastures, heading may be more prominent because of selective grazing.
Smaller pastures are easier to manage correctly.
Use mechanical clipping to remove stems and heads, but retain the leaves for rapid photosynthesis. Clipping after grazing also provides for more uniform regrowth, resulting in less selective grazing and better survival of the original forage mixture. The alternative to clipping is to leave one or two pastures out of the rotation after initial spring grazing and to stockpile the forage for hay, emergency use or fall use. It is better to defer grazing one or two pastures to maintain high quality in the remaining pastures. The deferred pastures need not be grazed all at once since the performance of young stock may be reduced.