Understanding “Used For” Statuses in Paddock Settings

Why “Used For” matters

When you assign a Used For value to a paddock, you’re telling Pasture.io how to treat that block of land in every calculation—from daily growth projections to the paddocks listed in your grazing planner. Choose the right status and your feed-wedge, KPIs, trend charts and reports stay trustworthy; choose the wrong one and you may skew farm-wide decisions.

The seven “Used For” options

1. Forage (Pasture)

Drives the platform. Cover and growth are stored, projected and shown everywhere (feed-wedge, KPI, trend charts, etc).
Grazable. Appears in the grazing-planner.
Satellite imagery. Available as usual.

2. Forage (Other)

Short-term or specialist forage crops. E.g. brassicas, fodder beet, kale, etc.
Metrics suppressed. Kept out of the feed-wedge and KPIs to avoid distorting pasture trends.
Still grazable. Herds can be moved here when the crop is ready.
Satellite imagery. Available.

3. Fodder

Stored crop or conserved feed. Longer term fodder e.g. maize, sorghum ground awaiting harvest.
No cover/growth metrics. Excluded from feed-wedge and KPIs.
Not grazable. Omitted from the grazing planner.
Satellite imagery. Available.

4. Crop

Standard broad-acre/arable crops. Behaves identically to Fodder in V2.
No metrics, not grazable, satellite imagery enabled for NDVI health checks, etc.

5. Fallow

Bare or resting ground.
No cover/growth metrics.
Not grazable.
Satellite imagery. Available.

6. None

Uncategorised paddock. Use when you’re unsure or still planning.
Behaviour equals Fallow: no metrics, not grazable, satellite imagery enabled.

7. Sacrifice

Over-grazed or pugged area set aside.
Metrics suppressed to keep low covers from dragging averages down.
Still grazable (e.g. for holding or emergency turnout, drought/flooding holding pad, etc.).
Satellite imagery. Available.

Quick reference table

Used For	Cover & growth metrics	Grazable (shows in planner)	Satellite imagery
Forage (Pasture)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Forage (Other)	No	Yes	Yes
Fodder	No	No	Yes
Crop	No	No	Yes
Fallow	No	No	Yes
None	No	No	Yes
Sacrifice	No	Yes	Yes

Best-practice tips

Default to Forage (Pasture) for any permanent pasture you intend to graze and monitor.
Use Forage (Other) for short-term forage crops you’ll both graze and keep off your main feed-wedge.
Mark silage or hay ground as Fodder (or Crop) until it returns to grazing rotation (note this isn't for temporarily shutting up silage paddocks, but more for fodder crops such as maize, sorghum, or other crops you may grow).
Set unused or bare blocks to Fallow (or None) to exclude them from all pasture metrics.
Reserve Sacrifice for areas intentionally being over-grazed or damaged, so you can still park stock there without hurting your feed-wedge.

By choosing the appropriate Used For status every time you create or edit a paddock, you’ll keep your data tidy, your KPIs meaningful, and your grazing decisions on point.

Learn how to set or change the Used For on your paddocks here.