Summary
This field study from the North Wyke Farm Platform evaluated whether a simplified 'pasture walk' protocol using diagonal transects could replace the industry-standard W-shaped pathway method for measuring herbage mass with rising plate meters. The diagonal method reduced labour time by over half whilst maintaining measurement accuracy within 106 kg DM/ha—a difference too small to alter grazing management decisions—potentially increasing adoption of evidence-based herbage monitoring on commercial farms that currently collect no data.
UK applicability
The findings are directly applicable to UK grassland farming, as the study was conducted at a UK research farm (Devon) using standard rising plate meter protocols. The simplified method may address a key barrier to adoption of herbage monitoring on UK commercial farms by substantially reducing the labour burden across the grass-growing season.
Key measures
Herbage mass (kg DM/ha) by rising plate meter; labour time per hectare (minutes); mean absolute difference between measurement protocols across 234 temporal-paddock combinations
Outcomes reported
The study compared herbage mass estimates obtained using a simplified diagonal transect method versus the industry-standard W-shaped pathway protocol for rising plate meters. Mean absolute difference in herbage mass estimates was 106 kg DM/ha with a 51.2% reduction in labour time required (1.2 min/ha versus 2.5 min/ha).
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