Smart grazing tips for merino weaners.

Smart grazing is an improved, yet simple and reliable, strategy for the control of worms in weaner sheep during their first winter.

The why and how of 'Smart Grazing'
Merino weaners are very susceptible to worms in their first winter. Consequently, they need to graze pastures that have as few worm larvae as is practicable. 'Smart grazing' combines intensive grazing for 30 days with each of the two 'summer' drenches to ensure that virtually no worm eggs are deposited on a chosen pasture from the first summer drench until after the autumn break when the weaners are put into these pastures.

Intensive grazing means using 2.5-3 times the normal stocking rate, for no longer than 30 days after each of the summer drenches is given. Not exceeding 30 days is critical because it takes three weeks for a worm larvae (eaten off pasture) to develop into an egg-laying adult in the sheep. After the intensive grazing period, the paddocks are de-stocked to allow the pastures to re-grow. This means that the total stocking pressure for the 'Smart grazed' paddock will be the same as that for a paddock continuously stocked at the farms normal stocking rate.