Short answer: Napier grass is a tall, fast-growing perennial that Ghanaian farmers plant from stem cuttings and cut for goats, sheep, cattle and grasscutters. It grows hard in the rains and slows in the dry season, so silage or hay made in the wet months keeps animals fed later. Cut it young, pair it with a protein source, and check young regrowth for nitrate risk after drought. Confirm planting and cutting plans with your district MoFA office and the livestock staff.
Key takeaways
- Plant stem cuttings at the start of the rains, in rows about a metre apart, with two or three nodes buried in the soil.
- Cut the grass young and at a steady height, leaving a stubble, instead of letting the stems go woody and coarse.
- Make silage or hay in the wet season for the dry months, when fresh Napier slows down or stops.
- Pair Napier with a protein source, because the grass is fibrous and low in protein as it matures.
- After drought or heavy nitrogen feeding, check young regrowth for nitrate risk with your vet before the animals eat it.
Why farmers keep coming back to Napier
Walk into the dry season on a farm with no fodder stored and you will hear it first: the goats are at the gate, and they are not patient. Napier grass is one of the most dependable answers to that problem. It is a perennial, so one planting can give cut after cut for several years when it is managed well, and it grows back quickly once the rains return.
It is also tall. Napier stands far above most grasses, and a mature clump can look like a wall of stems. That height is useful. It gives a large volume of green feed from a small area, and it can be planted as a field crop, along the edge of a compound, or as a barrier between paddocks.
The trade-off is quality. Napier is at its most useful when cut young, and the grass coarsens quickly once the stems thicken. A farm that waits too long to cut will have plenty of fodder that the animals do not digest well. Cutting on time is the single habit that makes Napier pay.
Stem cuttings: where the planting material comes from
Napier is planted from stem cuttings, often called sets or slips, rather than from seed. A cutting with two or three nodes, the joints where leaves and roots arise, will root and send up new shoots when it is buried in moist soil. The best cuttings come from a healthy, vigorous plot that is free of stunting and leaf disease. Ask a neighbour with a good plot, or buy cuttings from a nursery or extension source that can name the variety.
Cut the stems with a clean, sharp blade and carry them in a shaded bag, not in the sun. Plant them the same day if you can. Cuttings left in the open for several days lose vigour, and many of them will fail to take. Clean the blade between plots if you are taking cuttings from more than one source, so you do not carry disease from one field to the next.
Ask your district MoFA office whether the variety you have been given is well suited to your zone. Some Napier types are coarser and taller, while others are shorter and leafier, and the choice shapes how you cut and how you feed.
Planting rows and getting through the first season
Plant at the start of the rains, when the soil is moist and the new roots can establish before the dry spell. Set the cuttings at a slant in shallow trenches or holes, with the nodes buried and one or two nodes above the surface. Water in the first two weeks if the rains are late, and replace any cutting that fails to shoot.
Rows about a metre apart and cuttings about half a metre apart along the row is a common pattern, which puts roughly two cuttings in every square metre. Check the spacing with your extension officer for your site, because the best pattern depends on the variety and the cutting plan. Keep the plot free of weeds for the first two months, when the young clumps are still small and easily overrun.
Apply well-rotted manure or compost before or at planting, and keep fresh droppings away from the cuttings. Napier responds well to manure on poor soil, and the same manure on a flock's paddock can be spread onto the grass plot once it has rotted. Our guide to poultry manure explains how to rot it so the grass benefits without burning.
- Choose a site with reasonable drainage and clear access for cutting and carrying.
- Cut and bundle cuttings the same day, with two or three nodes each.
- Plant at the start of the rains, with the nodes buried and the cuttings slanted.
- Water if the rains stall in the first fortnight, and replace any failed cuttings.
- Weed the plot clearly in the first two months, before the clumps close over.
Cutting height and the interval between cuts
The question I hear most is how often to cut. The honest answer is that it depends on the rains, the variety and the stage of growth, so there is no single date. In the wet season many growers find that Napier is ready for a first cut within about two months of planting and then every six to eight weeks, but check that with your extension officer for your own zone and variety.
Cut when the plants are roughly knee to waist high, and before the stems turn hard and the leaves go pale at the base. Leave a stubble of about 10 to 15 cm so the plant can regrow from the buds at the base. Cutting too low weakens the clump and slows the next flush. Cutting too high leaves coarse stems the animals will walk past.
In the dry season growth slows, so cut less often and let the clumps recover. Do not take heavy cuts through a drought, because the plants have less energy to regrow, and young regrowth after drought needs care before you feed it, as the nitrate section below explains.
Feeding Napier to goats, sheep and cattle
Chop the cut grass into lengths of about 5 to 10 cm before you feed it. Shorter pieces are easier to eat, waste less, and mix better with dry feed or a concentrate. Long, unchopped stems get trampled and dropped, and the animals will leave half the bundle on the ground.
Napier alone is a bulk feed, not a complete ration. As the grass matures, its protein falls and its fibre rises, and goats and sheep can lose condition on a Napier-only diet, even when the belly looks full. Pair it with a legume such as leucaena or gliricidia where you can grow them, add a measured protein concentrate, and give a mineral block. Our guide to feeding goats sets out the general approach, and the goat farming starter guide explains how the herd fits the farm.
Feed fresh Napier in amounts the animals clean up over the day, and remove any refused stems before they rot in the pen. Introduce a new cut gradually if the animals are not used to it. Watch the droppings and the appetite. Sudden changes in either are a reason to call your vet or livestock officer, not to wait and see.
Silage and hay: keeping the wet-season surplus for the dry months
Fresh Napier stops growing in a long dry spell, and by then the animals still need feeding. The answer is to conserve some of the wet-season surplus as silage or hay. Both work on a Ghanaian farm, and the choice depends on your labour, your space and the number of animals you have to feed.
| Option | When to make it | Main steps | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hay | In the rains, when a cut is at its best and the weather allows drying | Cut, leave to wilt in the sun, turn, then stack under cover in a dry store | Rain on the drying grass, mould in a damp store, and loss of leaves on turning |
| Silage in a pit or bag | At the peak of the rains, from a cut that is still young | Chop, wilt briefly, pack tightly, seal airtight, and keep the seal intact for several weeks | Air in the silage, water getting in, and a seal that tears in the sun |
| Chopped fresh, fed in the pen | Every day through the rains | Cut and carry, chop, and feed in measured amounts | Heavy cuts that outrun the herd and leftovers that spoil |
Silage needs careful packing and sealing, and the detail matters more than people expect. Talk to your extension officer before your first pit, and ask for a demonstration if one is available. A failed silage pit is a loss of labour and of the fodder you were saving for the hardest months.
Nitrates, drought and the young regrowth that can harm
Napier can accumulate nitrates, especially when the plant has been heavily fertilised with nitrogen and then hit by drought. A dry spell followed by the first rain can push a flush of young, leafy regrowth that looks very attractive to hungry animals. That flush is the one to treat with respect.
Nitrates in feed can harm ruminants, sometimes badly and quickly, and the signs include weakness, rapid breathing and collapse in severe cases. Nitrate problems are not common on well-managed plots, but they are a real risk after drought. Keep the herd off a sudden flush of regrowth, mix it with dry feed, and introduce it slowly if you must use it. If an animal shows signs of trouble, call your vet straight away.
Your Veterinary Services office and your agric extension officer can help you test or judge the risk on your own plot. Ask them which steps they recommend after a drought, and keep a note of when the rains came back so you can plan the cuts around the risk.
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Napier for grasscutters and small livestock
Grasscutters eat Napier leaves readily, and many farmers who keep them grow a Napier plot close to the pens so the cut grass arrives fresh every day. The same plot can feed goats or sheep, so you can plan the cut for both. The grass needs the same care as for other livestock, because grasscutters are sensitive to sudden changes in feed.
If you are keeping grasscutters alongside other enterprises, our guide to feeding grasscutters explains the diet in more detail, and the grasscutter farming guide covers the wider system. Keep the grass clean and free of droppings, and remove wet, spoiled leaves before they reach the pens.
Napier on a farm that also keeps chickens
Fodder and birds often share a holding. On a farm where Napier feeds the goats, the flock can take a little of the green too. Chopped young Napier leaf is a useful bulk green for birds in small amounts, but it is not a poultry feed. Chickens need the protein, energy and minerals of a balanced ration, and coarse grass cannot supply them.
Offer the leaf in small amounts, chopped fine, and watch the droppings and the appetite. Remove anything the birds leave. If you want to grow green feed specifically for the flock, sprouted fodder is a more controllable option, and our guide to sprouted fodder covers how to set it up. For the protein side, leucaena leaf meal is one of the local options farmers use, and the mixing guides show how the ration is built.
The chicks themselves come from the hatchery. Our day-old chicks page covers the breeds we sell, and you can order from the homepage when the flock is ready to start.
Hedges, windbreaks and bank protection
Napier does more than feed animals. A row of clumps along a bank holds soil on slopes, and a dense line of stems acts as a windbreak on open ground. Many farms use it as a living fence that stops small stock wandering into crops, while the cut grass goes to the pen.
Plant the hedge at the start of the rains, the same way as a cutting plot, and keep the cut line tidy so the clumps stay dense. Keep the cuts away from the fence line if the hedge is also a boundary, and check that the growth is not shading a nearby crop too much. Our pasture and grazing guide explains how to rest and rotate paddocks, which works well alongside a Napier hedge.
A feed plan with worked numbers
These sums use assumed figures for the arithmetic only. Ten goats, each eating an assumed 3 kg of fresh fodder a day, need 30 kg a day, or about 900 kg in a 30-day month. Your animals, their weights and your feeding practice will change those numbers, so measure what they actually clean up before you plan a plot.
- Daily need: herd size multiplied by the intake you measure, in fresh kilograms.
- Monthly need: the daily figure multiplied by 30, then adjusted for the feed you also give.
- Plot output: weigh a sample of cut grass from one square metre, then multiply to the plot size, using a number you have measured yourself.
- Silage reserve: the dry months' total need, minus what your stored hay and silage can supply.
Work out the cost of cuttings, labour and any fertiliser with your own rates, and compare the result with buying in fodder or extra feed. The plot pays only if it grows enough to cover the herd through the lean months.
Questions farmers ask
When should I plant Napier grass in Ghana?
Plant at the start of the rains, when the soil is moist and the cuttings can root before the next dry spell. Replant any cuttings that fail to shoot within a few weeks. The exact window depends on your zone and the year, so check the timing with your district MoFA office and your extension officer before you take the cuttings.
How often should I cut Napier?
In the wet season many growers cut roughly every six to eight weeks, once the grass is knee to waist high and before the stems coarsen. In the dry season growth slows, so cut less often and let the clumps recover. These are general patterns, not rules. Watch your own regrowth, and adjust the interval to your variety, your rainfall and your herd.
Can I feed Napier alone to my goats?
Napier alone is a bulk feed that will not keep goats or sheep in good condition for long, because its protein falls as it matures. Pair it with a legume, a measured protein concentrate and a mineral supplement. Ask your vet or livestock officer to work out the ration for your herd, especially for does in milk or animals that are growing or pregnant.
Is Napier safe for cattle after a drought?
Be careful. After drought, especially when the plot has been heavily fertilised, the first young regrowth can carry high nitrate levels. Hold the herd off a sudden flush, mix any new grass with dry feed, and introduce it gradually. If an animal shows weakness, rapid breathing or collapse, call your vet straight away and do not wait for it to improve.
Can I make Napier silage without a proper silo?
You can make silage in a pit or in strong bags, as long as the grass is chopped, packed tightly and sealed airtight. Air and water are the enemies, so check the seal for tears and keep it out of direct sun. Ask your extension officer for a demonstration before you rely on a home-made pit for the whole dry season.
Can chickens eat Napier leaves?
Chopped young leaf can be offered to birds in small amounts as a green, but it is not a complete feed. Chickens need the protein, energy and minerals of a balanced ration. Chop the leaf fine, watch the droppings, remove leftovers and keep the ration balanced. For a more controllable green, sprouted fodder is often a better choice.
Where can I get Napier cuttings in Ghana?
Start with a neighbour who has a healthy plot, then ask your district MoFA office and the agric extension officer for named varieties and any nursery sources in your area. Cuttings should be taken from vigorous, disease-free stems, cut cleanly and planted the same day. Ask which variety suits your zone, because taller and shorter types suit different cutting plans.
