Alternative upland grazing systems: Impacts on livestock performance and sward characteristics

Fraser, Malcolm; Vale, J. E.; Dhanoa, M. S.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2013.05.002

Cited by 20 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Although calf performance was lower on the native pastures than the sown swards, the animals achieved commercially acceptable growth rates on vegetation which would commonly be considered unsuitable for productive stock [19]. The finding that such a level of performance can be achieved using commercial crossbred cattle conflicts with the perceptions of many upland farmers and their advisors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…(1%). Regular sward measurements taken throughout each growing season found no evidence of between-system differences in sward height or sward biomass on these plots [19]. Plot areas allocated to silage production were closed up at the beginning of May, with the crop harvested around mid June (weather permitting).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Increasing the ratio of water soluble carbohydrates to nitrogen in fresh grass has been shown to reduce the proportion of dietary nitrogen excreted in urine [40], [41]. The Molinia and PP swards tended to have similar crude protein concentrations, although the permanent pasture had higher concentrations of water soluble carbohydrates than the Molinia [19]. The proportion of dietary nitrogen consumed by animals grazing the permanent pasture and subsequently excreted in urine was therefore likely to be less than that excreted by the animals grazing the SNRG.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mixed Grazing Systems Benefit both Upland Biodiversity and Livestock Production

et al. 2014

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BackgroundWith world food demand expected to double by 2050, identifying farming systems that benefit both agricultural production and biodiversity is a fundamentally important challenge for the 21st century, but this has to be achieved in a sustainable way. Livestock grazing management directly influences both economic outputs and biodiversity on upland farms while contributing to potentially damaging greenhouse gas emissions, yet no study has attempted to address these impacts simultaneously.MethodsUsing a replicated, landscape-scale field experiment consisting of five management ‘systems’ we tested the effects of progressively altering elements within an upland farming system, viz i) incorporating cattle grazing into an upland sheep system, ii) integrating grazing of semi-natural rough grazing into a mixed grazing system based on improved pasture, iii) altering the stocking ratio within a mixed grazing system, and iv) replacing modern crossbred cattle with a traditional breed. We quantified the impacts on livestock productivity and numbers of birds and butterflies over four years.Results, Conclusion and SignificanceWe found that management systems incorporating mixed grazing with cattle improve livestock productivity and reduce methane emissions relative to sheep only systems. Systems that also included semi-natural rough grazing consistently supported more species of birds and butterflies, and it was possible to incorporate bouts of summer grazing of these pastures by cattle to meet habitat management prescriptions without compromising cattle performance overall. We found no evidence that the system incorporating a cattle breed popular as a conservation grazer was any better for bird and butterfly species richness than those based on a mainstream breed, yet methane emissions from such a system were predicted to be higher. We have demonstrated that mixed upland grazing systems not only improve livestock production, but also benefit biodiversity, suggesting a ‘win-win’ solution for farmers and conservationists.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mixed Grazing Systems Benefit both Upland Biodiversity and Livestock Production

et al. 2014

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“…Slightly lower values were reported by Treacher et al [43], who recorded a growth rate between 237 and 252 g/d for twin and single lambs and Fraser at al. [44] who observed a growth rate from birth to weaning of 241 g/d. A benchmark target for lamb growth weights therefore would be around 250-300 g/d for future interventions on the NWFP.…”

Section: Sheep Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock Performance for Sheep and Cattle Grazing Lowland Permanent Pasture: Benchmarking Potential of Forage-Based Systems

et al. 2019

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Here we describe the livestock performance and baseline productivity over a two-year period, following the establishment of the infrastructure on the North Wyke Farm Platform across its three farmlets (small farms). Lowland permanent pastures were continuously stocked with yearling beef cattle and ewes and their twin lambs for two years in three farmlets. The cattle came into the farmlets as suckler-reared weaned calves at 195 ± 32.6 days old weighing 309 ± 45.0 kg, were housed indoors for 170 days then turned out to graze weighing 391 ± 54.2 kg for 177 days. Therefore, it is suggested for predominantly grass-based systems with minimal supplementary feeding that target live weight gains should be 0.5 kg/day in the first winter, 0.9 kg/day for summer grazing and 0.8 kg/day for cattle housed and finished on silage in a second winter. The sheep performance suggested that lambs weaned at 100 days and weighing 35 kg should finish at 200 days weighing 44 to 45 kg live weight with a killing out percentage of 44%. Good levels of livestock production are possible with grass and forage-based systems using little or no additional supplementary concentrate feeds.

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“…Complementarity in the feeding behaviour of associated species is expected to lead to a better quality of available biomass and thus promote animal production (Abaye et al, 1994;Sehested et al, 2004). The behaviour of grazing cows is known to differ from that of goats, which are very selective (Fraser et al, 2013). As a result, in a system of cattle mixed with goats, goats have greater access to edible regions of the sward.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed grazing systems of goats with cattle in tropical conditions: an alternative to improving animal production in the pastureq

d'Alexis¹,

Périacarpin²,

Jackson

et al. 2014

Animal

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Mixed grazing systems combining sheep and cattle have shown better growth performance for one or both species. This observation has been attributed to their complementary feeding behaviour and the reduced host infection by gastrointestinal nematodes. Less attention has been paid to mixed grazing systems combining goats and cattle. Here, continuously grazing goats mixed with cattle (M) were compared with control goats reared alone (C) under tropical conditions. The comparison was conducted with gastrointestinal nematode-infected (I) and non-infected (nI) goats. Thus, the four treatments were cattle with gastrointestinal nematode-infected goats (MI), gastrointestinal nematode-infected goats alone (CI), cattle with non-infected goats (MnI) and non-infected goats (CnI). Average daily gain (ADG, g/day) and grass production were measured for the four groups of animals (six goats and two heifers treated with MI or MnI) grazing for 3 months on 4 subplots. Monthly measurements were performed over 5-day periods. This pattern was replicated in space for a second set of four subplots and in time for six successive cohorts of animals (bands 1 to 6). The ADG of goats in mixed grazing conditions was higher than controls irrespective of the infection status (32.6 v. 18.4 g/day for MI v. CI; 44.2 v. 33.5 g/day for MnI v. CnI). Concomitantly, the average biomass was lower for mixed grazing animals compared with controls (174 v. 170 for MI and MnI; 235 v. 208 for CI and CnI, respectively), suggesting better use of the sward. For daily BW gain (g/kg DM), mixed grazing also yielded better results than the control (1.88 v. 0.52 g BW/kg DM per day for MI v. CI; 2.08 v. 1.47 g BW/kg DM per day for MnI and CnI). Mixed grazing of goats and heifers offers a promising alternative for increasing goat and overall animal production as well as improving the management of pastures.Keywords: mixed grazing, BW, goat, agro-ecological management, tropical ImplicationsThis study conducted over 2 years showed a higher average daily gain of grazing goats pastured together with cattle compared with goats reared alone, considering either the individual gain or gain per hectare. This increased gain occurred irrespective of the infection status of the goats. Moreover, the biomass was lower in mixed grazing conditions, likely due to improved use of the pasture by goats that were mixed with cattle. These results suggest that integrated grazing could be employed as an alternative agroecological strategy to increase performance per hectare and control residual biomass. In addition, this strategy represents an important alternative to reduce the use of anthelmintics.

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Alternative upland grazing systems: Impacts on livestock performance and sward characteristics

Cited by 20 publications

References 47 publications

Mixed Grazing Systems Benefit both Upland Biodiversity and Livestock Production

Mixed Grazing Systems Benefit both Upland Biodiversity and Livestock Production

Livestock Performance for Sheep and Cattle Grazing Lowland Permanent Pasture: Benchmarking Potential of Forage-Based Systems

Mixed grazing systems of goats with cattle in tropical conditions: an alternative to improving animal production in the pastureq

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