Assessing the production and economic benefits from preventing cows grazing on wet soils in New Zealand

Laurenson, Seth; Houlbrooke, D. J.; Beukes, P.C.

doi:10.1002/jsfa.7676

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Similarly, Beukes et al (2013) concluded in a modeling study that 6-to 8-h access to pasture per day under conditions conducive to treading damage was more profitable than keeping cows indoors completely. The 2 main differences between the present study and previous modeling studies of whole-farm scenarios (Beukes et al, 2013;Laurenson et al, 2016Laurenson et al, , 2017 are that (1) previous studies used a modeling approach with an assumed decreasing pasture production as a function of stocking density and access time to pasture when animals were turned out during wet soil conditions, and (2) capital costs increased when cows were taken off during wet soil conditions (completely or temporarily). However, those studies were conducted in New Zealand, under the premise that standoff facilities had to be purpose-built for holding cows off pasture.…”

Section: Effect Of Grazing System On Profitabilitymentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Likewise, in the present study, net profit was lowest in the control system due to a combination of higher costs and lower milk sales. Laurenson et al (2016) modeled the effects of restricting access of dairy cows to pasture and reported higher costs when cows were taken off compared with turned out to pasture during wet soil conditions. The difference was primarily due to higher feed costs.…”

Section: Effect Of Grazing System On Profitabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cows are housed or held on a standoff pad for the remainder of each day and often receive no additional feed during this time. Such an approach has been shown to maintain pasture intake and milk production (Gregorini et al, 2009;Kennedy et al, 2009;Pérez-Ramírez et al, 2009), cause less damage to soil structure (Houlbrooke et al, 2009;Laurenson et al, 2016), and lower the risk of nutrient losses to water (Clark et al, 2010;Christensen et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although many studies have measured the effects of treading on soil structure and pasture production, the extent of treading is typically ascertained after the grazing event (Houlbrooke et al, 2009;Phelan et al, 2013;Tuñon et al, 2014;Laurenson et al, 2016). From a commercial farming perspective, the concern is to prevent treading damage before it happens, because it is likely to be detrimental to current and future productivity of pastures and to the dairy cows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Access time to pasture under wet soil conditions: Effects on productivity and profitability of pasture-based dairying

Fenger

Casey

Holden

et al. 2022

Journal of Dairy Science

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A long grazing season improves the profitability of pasture-based dairy production. It can entail grazing under wet soil conditions and the risk of damaging swards. Housing cows either temporarily or completely while soil moisture is high can avoid damaging swards. An experiment with 4 grazing systems was conducted over 3 yr (Sep. 1, 2013, to Aug. 31, 2016. The purpose was to evaluate whether soil moisture measurements are an effective decision support to assess the risk of treading damage and effects on pasture productivity and dairy cow performance during wet soil conditions. Access time to pasture between February and December of each grazing season was dependent on volumetric soil moisture content (VSMC, m 3 /m 3 ) measured each morning: Control = cows were housed at VSMC >0.5 and otherwise allowed 22-h/d access to pasture; S<7 = cows were housed on days with VSMC >0.7 and otherwise allowed 22-h/d access to pasture; S7-6 = cows were housed at VSMC >0.7 and allowed 8-h/d access to pasture at VSMC between 0.7 and 0.6 and 22-h/d access at VSMC ≤0.6; S7-5 = cows were housed at VSMC >0.7 and allowed 8-h/d access to pasture at VSMC between 0.7 and 0.5 and 22-h/d access at VSMC ≤0.5. Cows with 8-h access per day received no other feeding when housed. All herds were compact spring-calving, with a mean calving date of Feb. 19. Mean stocking rate was 2.57 cows/ha. Measurements of VSMC provided an objective indicator for the risk of treading damage. Less time spent at pasture under wet soil conditions lowered treading damage but had no effect on annual pasture production (mean 14.8 t of organic matter/ha). Annual milk solids production per cow was lowest for the control herd (485 kg) and not different between the other systems (503 kg). Reducing treading damage to swards did not improve productiv-ity or profitability of the grazing systems. Nevertheless, measuring soil moisture was a useful decision support for assessing the risk of treading damage when turning cows out to pasture.

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Section: Effect Of Grazing System On Profitabilitymentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Effect Of Grazing System On Profitabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Access time to pasture under wet soil conditions: Effects on productivity and profitability of pasture-based dairying

Fenger

Casey

Holden

et al. 2022

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…Off-paddock facilities can be used to reduce N returns to pasture during periods of low N utilisation and in turn decrease the risk of N leaching in winter and spring [23]. In addition, off-paddock facilities protect wet pasture from treading damage [24,25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of System Changes in Grazed Dairy Farmlet Trials on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Weerden

Beukes

Klein

et al. 2018

Animals

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Simple SummaryDairy farm system practices aimed at reducing nitrate leaching can also reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. A study comparing ‘current’ and ‘improved’ grazed dairy system practices showed that ‘improved’ systems generally produced lower greenhouse gas emissions while milk production was maintained. The amount of feed eaten per hectare was the key driver of total greenhouse gas emissions per area, with ‘improved’ systems generally exhibiting lower total enteric methane and less N flowing through the herd.AbstractAn important challenge facing the New Zealand (NZ) dairy industry is development of production systems that can maintain or increase production and profitability, while reducing impacts on receiving environments including water and air. Using research ‘farmlets’ in Waikato, Canterbury, and Otago (32–200 animals per herd), we assessed if system changes aimed at reducing nitrate leaching can also reduce total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (methane and nitrous oxide) and emissions intensity (kg GHG per unit of product) by comparing current and potential ‘improved’ dairy systems. Annual average GHG emissions for each system were estimated for three or four years using calculations based on the New Zealand Agricultural Inventory Methodology, but included key farmlet-specific emission factors determined from regional experiments. Total annual GHG footprints ranged between 10,800 kg and 20,600 kg CO2e/ha, with emissions strongly related to the amount of feed eaten. Methane (CH4) represented 75% to 84% of the total GHG footprint across all modelled systems, with enteric CH4 from lactating cows grazing pasture being the major source. Excreta deposition onto paddocks was the largest source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, representing 7–12% of the total GHG footprint for all systems. When total emissions were represented on an intensity basis, ‘improved’ systems are predicted to generally result in lower emissions intensity. The ‘improved’ systems had lower GHG footprints than the ‘current’ system, except for one of the ‘improved’ systems in Canterbury, which had a higher stocking rate. The lower feed supplies and associated lower stocking rates of the ‘improved’ systems were the key drivers of lower total GHG emissions in all three regions. ‘Improved’ systems designed to reduced N leaching generally also reduced GHG emissions.

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Application of grazing land models in ecosystem management: Current status and next frontiers

Ma¹,

Derner²,

Harmel³

et al. 2019

Advances in Agronomy

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Assessing the production and economic benefits from preventing cows grazing on wet soils in New Zealand

Cited by 9 publications

References 60 publications

Access time to pasture under wet soil conditions: Effects on productivity and profitability of pasture-based dairying

Access time to pasture under wet soil conditions: Effects on productivity and profitability of pasture-based dairying

The Effects of System Changes in Grazed Dairy Farmlet Trials on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Application of grazing land models in ecosystem management: Current status and next frontiers

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