An existing grazing trial on an irrigated Wakanui silt loam at Lincoln College, Canterbury, was sampled at five consecutive grazings (January to July, 1983) to determine the effects of pasture utilisation on herbage composition and in vitro digestibility of regrowth. Rotational grazing of sheep at two stocking rates, high (27.5 ewes/ha) and low (17.5 ewes/ha), resulted in different levels of utilisation. Low utilisation (27%) produced a sward with a high dead material content (44%) and low in vitro digestibility of the whole sward (