Grassland tools and methods for grazing management supports
Following identification of the tools, each tool was categorised and ranked in terms of its relevance to the project and was identified as an “extension agent” or “farmer tool”.
Grazing tools identification
By country
| Country | Grassland tools submitted |
|---|---|
| Ireland | Spring rotation Planner |
| Ireland | Grass Wedge |
| Ireland | Grass budget |
| Ireland | GrassHopper |
| Ireland | Pasturebase Ireland |
| Ireland | Manual Plate meter |
| France | Pasture plan |
| Belgium | Herbometre |
| Belgium | Pasture calendar |
| Italy | webGRAS (potential forage quality) |
| Austria | Rotation planner |
| Austria | Grass Wedge |
| Austria | Grass budget (Stocking rate in continuous variable stocking) |
| Germany | Hinweisdienst Grünland |
| Germany | Grünlandreifeprüfung (regional sampling from grassland to help farmers if they want to determine the best point for harvest) |
| Germany | ISIP (timing of fitiliser application) |
| Germany | Grünland online |
| Germany | Wetterfax |
| Poland | Grassland renovation calculator |
| Sweden | Grazing Calender |
| Sweden | Beteskalle (multilingual - 7 languages, AutoGrassMilk). A digital planning tool which calculates grazing costs and grass production |
| Sweden | Harvest prognosis for ley |
| Sweden | Slurry value calculator |
| Sweden | Grovfoderkalkylen ( Forage Calculation ) includes cost calcuations of producing forage as ley, maize or cereal whole crop. The farmers´ or advisors´ figures are stored online. |
| Sweden | Räknehjälpen ( Help Figuring ) includes about 15 excel files for calculating separate issues, e.g. cost of transporting slurry or forage, demand of nitrogen to reach a given amount of crude protein, cost of different storage systems, cost of additives, cost of forage handling in the feeding system on farm level, prize model for ley or maize when selling between farms. |
| France | Patur'IN |
| France | Pâtur'Plan |
| France | Herb'Avenir |
| France | Herb'Valo |
| France | Herbe Book |
| France | Date N'Prairie |
| The Netherlands | Beweidingswijzer |
| The Netherlands | WeideKompas |
| The Netherlands | Grip op Gras |
| The Netherlands | Grass growth prediction |
| The Netherlands | Graasvisie |
| The Netherlands | Digitale graslandgebruikskalender |
| The Netherlands | Vers gras dashbard |
| The Netherlands | |
| Luxembourg / Autograssmilk | Beteskalle (multilingual - 7 languages |
By functionality
| Grassland tools submitted | User Type | Season of use | Entreprise | Web based |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring rotation Planner | Farmer/advisor | Spring | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| Grass Wedge | Farmer/advisor | Summer/Autumn | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| Grass budget | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| GrassHopper | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | No |
| Pasturebase Ireland | Farmer/Advisor/Res | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| Manual Plate meter | Farmer/Advisor/Res | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | No |
| Pasture plan | farmer/advisor | all year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | no |
| Herbometre | Farmer/advisor | All year | Dairy/beef | No |
| Pasture calendar | Farmer | All year | Dairy/beef | No |
| webGRAS (potential forage quality) | Farmer/advisor | First cut of meadows | Dairy | Yes |
| Rotation planner | Farmer/advisor | March-October | Dairy | No |
| Grass Wedge | Farmer/advisor | Grazing season | Dairy | No |
| Grass budget (Stocking rate in continuous variable stocking) | Farmer/advisor | March-October | Dairy | No |
| Hinweisdienst Grünland | Farmer | all year | all grassland farmers | no |
| Grünlandreifeprüfung (regional sampling from grassland to help farmers if they want to determine the best point for harvest) | Farmer/Advisor | Spring | all grassland farmers | published online/print media |
| ISIP (timing of fitiliser application) | farmer/ advisor | Spring | ISIP (Informationssystem Integrierte Pflanzenproduktion e.V.) provides different decision tools related to year (weather conditions) and site (soil conditions) for all kinds of agricultural production | yes |
| Grünland online | Farmer | all year | grassland farmers | yes |
| Wetterfax | Farmer/Advisor | all year | agricultural weather forecast and respective recommendations for farmers | no |
| Grassland renovation calculator | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Beef | Yes |
| Grazing Calender | Farmer/Advisor | Grazing season | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | No |
| Beteskalle (multilingual - 7 languages, AutoGrassMilk). A digital planning tool which calculates grazing costs and grass production | Farmer/Advisor | Grazing season | Dairy | Yes |
| Harvest prognosis for ley | Farmer/Advisor | First harvest | Dairy/Sheep/Beef/Horses | Yes |
| Slurry value calculator | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| Grovfoderkalkylen ( Forage Calculation ) includes cost calcuations of producing forage as ley, maize or cereal whole crop. The farmers´ or advisors´ figures are stored online. | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| Räknehjälpen ( Help Figuring ) includes about 15 excel files for calculating separate issues, e.g. cost of transporting slurry or forage, demand of nitrogen to reach a given amount of crude protein, cost of different storage systems, cost of additives, cost of forage handling in the feeding system on farm level, prize model for ley or maize when selling between farms. | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| Patur'IN | Farmer/Advisor/Res | All year | Dairy/Beef | No |
| Pâtur'Plan | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Beef | No |
| Herb'Avenir | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Beef | No |
| Herb'Valo | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Beef | No |
| Herbe Book | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| Date N'Prairie | Farmer/Advisor | All year | Dairy/Sheep/Beef | Yes |
| Beweidingswijzer | Advisor | All year | Dairy | Yes |
| WeideKompas | Advisor | All year | Dairy | Yes |
| Grip op Gras | Farmer/advisor | All year | Dairy | Yes |
| Grass growth prediction | Advisor | All year | Dairy | Not yet |
| Graasvisie | Advisor | All year | Dairy | No |
| Digitale graslandgebruikskalender | Farmer | All year | Dairy | No |
| Vers gras dashbard | Farmer/advisor | All year | Dairy | No |
| Farmer/advisor | Dairy | |||
| Beteskalle (multilingual - 7 languages) | Advisor | All year | Dairy | No |
Grassland tools categories
Each tool were categorised into the following categories:
- Grassland Hardware
- Budgeting
- Grassland Decision support
- Grass Quality
- Fertiliser
- Weather
- Grassland Renovation
- Feed costs
- Ecology
Each tool was ranked on a scale of 1-5 based on their “usefulness” to their relevant category (1-poor to 5-excellent).
Grassland hardware
| Grazing tool | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Pasturebase (Ireland) | 5 |
| Pâtur'Plan (France) | 5 |
| Grass-Hopper (Ireland) | 4 |
| Herbometre (Belgium) | 4 |
| Patur'IN (France) | 4 |
| Herb'Avenir (France) | 4 |
| Herbe Book (France) | 4 |
| Date N'Prairie (France) | 3 |
Grass budgeting
| Grazing tool | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Grip op Gras (The Netherlands) | 5 |
| Grassland renovation calculator (Poland) | 5 |
| Grass budget (Ireland) | 5 |
| Pasture plan (France) | 4 |
| Herbe Book (France) | 4 |
| Grass growth prediction (The Netherlands) | 3 |
| Graasvisie (The Netherlands) | 3 |
| Beteskalle (Sweden) | 3 |
Grassland decision support
| Grazing tool | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Grass Wedge (Ireland) | 5 |
| Pasture plan (France) | 5 |
| Grassland renovation calculator (Poland) | 5 |
| Grip op Gras (The Netherlands) | 5 |
| Spring rotation Planner (Ireland) | 4 |
| Manual Plate meter (Ireland) | 4 |
| Pasture calendar (Belgium) | 4 |
| Grazing Calender (Sweeden) | 4 |
| Beweidingswijzer (The Netherlands) | 4 |
| WeideKompas (The Netherlands) | 4 |
| webGRAS (Italy) | 4 |
| Herbometre (Belgium) | 3 |
| Grass growth prediction (The Netherlands) | 3 |
| Graasvisie (The Netherlands) | 3 |
| Digitale graslandgebruikskalender (The Netherlands) | 3 |
| Vers gras dashbard (The Netherlands) | 3 |
| Beteskalle (multilingual - 7 languages) (Luxembourg) | 2 |
Grass quality
| Grazing tools | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Grassland renovation calculator (Poland) | 5 |
| Harvest prognosis for ley (Sweden) | 5 |
| webGRAS (Italy) | 4 |
| Vers gras dashbard(The Netherlands) | 4 |
| WeideKompas (The Netherlands) | 3 |
Fertiliser
| Grazing tool | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Slurry value calculator (Sweden) | 5 |
| Räknehjälpen (Sweden) | 5 |
| Beweidingswijzer (The Netherlands) | 3 |
| Digitale graslandgebruikskalender (The Netherlands) | 3 |
Weather
| Grazing tool | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Grass growth prediction (The Netherlands) | 4 |
Grassland renovation
| Grazing tools | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Grassland renovation calculator (Poland) | 5 |
Feed costs
| Grazing tool | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Beweidingswijzer (The Netherlands) | 5 |
| Grovfoderkalkylen (Sweden) | 4 |
| Herbometer (Belgium) | 3 |
Ecology
| Grazing tools | Ranking (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Grassland renovation calculator (Poland) | 3 |
The following link can be used to access the One-Stop Shop for the Inno4Grass grassland tools: https://inno4grass.eu/images/dokumenty/Overall_rankings_grassland_tools.pdf
This should be a facility for extension agents and farmers to get access to tools that could benefit their grassland enterprises.
About this one-stop shop
Teagasc Inno4Grass representatives made contact with each member state to gain an insight into grassland tools being practiced in used in each country to increase efficiency in grassland. Each country provided tools that are widely(and also not commonly used) for their own nations. There was a wide variation in tools (and languages) so it was difficult to gain an insight into every tool. Some tools were on systems unavailable to outside parties, so it was difficult to form an understanding on these tools.