Summer (Dec - Feb)

Summer on the Highveld officially starts three weeks after the first rains of the season and stretches to the first signs of cold, which usually occur in mid-February. It is an extremely short time during which the veld is green, juicy and palatable, which leads to high intakes off the veld. While grass is in the growth phase before seed formation, it has a high protein and energy content and is also extremely digestible.

On average, South Africa's natural veld has a shortage of phosphates. It is best to supplement phosphates when animals are grazing on green summer veld and established pastures, rapidly gaining body mass in the process. The better the quality of the roughage, the better the effect that will be gained from the phosphate supplement. The effectiveness of utilisation is also at its peak at this stage.

Given the fact that the nutritional value of winter pastures on the Highveld is so much lower than during the summer months, production cycles have been adapted in such a way that the highest production levels are reached during the summer time. During this time, grass-nutrient yield is also optimally utilised. Subsequently, the highest need for P occurs during summer, and the ratio of the shortage of this element to the production of the animal also increases.

Ruminants need approximately 8 to 12g P/head of cattle/day and 1.5g P/sheep/day during the summer months. Phosphate supplementation has a significant impact on cow/ewe mass, reproduction and calf/lamb performance.
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