Summary
Novel grazing management practices for livestock and bee health are becoming increasingly crucial in pasture-based farming systems. The effect of pasture type and spring closing dates on lamb liveweight gain, pasture production, botanical composition, bloom density and bee visitation was monitored over 2 years. Total annual dry matter yield (DMY) of diverse pastures in 2020/2021 was 8.8 t DM ha−1. This yield was greater than the DMY obtained from both simple (7.6 t DM ha−1) and legume pastures (6.6 t DM ha−1). In 2021/2022, the total annual DMY of simple (8.6 t DM ha−1) and diverse pastures (9.0 t DM ha−1) was similar. However, the legume pastures produced 27–30% less than simple and diverse pastures. In successive years, lambs grew faster in legume pastures (287, 215 g per head d−1) than
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