Foraging Behavior of Heritage versus Desert-Adapted Commercial Rangeland Beef Cows in Relation to Dam-Offspring Contact Patterns

Nyamuryekung’e, Shelemia; Cibils, Andrés F.; Estell, Richard E.; McIntosh, Matthew M.; VanLeeuwen, Dawn; Steele, C. M.; González, Alfredo; Spiegal, Sheri; Continanza, F. Guadalupe

doi:10.1016/j.rama.2020.11.001

Cited by 16 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 33 publications

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“…Bailey et al (2010) demonstrated that both genetics and early learning affect the expression of foraging behaviour equally. Several genetic markers have been found that explained up to 24% of the phenotypic variation in terrain use by cattle (Bailey et al 2015) and foraging behaviour has consistently been shown to differ among breeds within a species (Bailey et al 2001;Russell et al 2010;Aharoni et al 2013;Dolev et al 2014;Nyamuryekung'e et al 2021) and among individuals within a population of the same breed (Michelena et al 2009;Sibbald et al 2009;di Virgilio and Morales 2016). The variation in foraging behaviour in red deer has not been investigated in any detail; however, Wall et al (2019) demonstrated that different individuals utilised different vegetation zones within a large herd of farmed red deer, indicating that variation in resource utilisation does occur.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GPS-derived foraging behaviour of red deer and liveweight gain of red deer and wapiti crossbred sire lines on contrasting winter forage types

et al. 2023

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Context It is common practice to manage red deer on highly digestible easily harvested forage during winter on New Zealand deer farms, particularly in areas that experience low or no pasture growth during this period. However, not all individuals within these production systems perform equally. Aims To investigate foraging behaviour of young red deer and liveweight gain of young red deer and wapiti crossbred sire lines when offered two contrasting winter forage diets. Methods One hundred and sixty-three rising 1-year-old female red deer and red deer wapiti crossbreds representing five red deer and two wapiti sires, were split into two management groups balanced by sire and liveweight and managed on either an easily harvested highly digestible diet (forage kale) or a harder-to-harvest more poorly digestible diet (pasture) for a 6-week period during winter. Foraging behaviour was monitored on 95 red deer yearlings by using GPS collars over a 2-week period. Liveweights were recorded at the start and end of the 6-week period. Key results Progeny managed on the kale treatment exhibited an extended activity period during the dawn period and a suppressed activity period during the middle of the day. Progeny managed on the pasture treatment exhibited frequent shorter activity periods from dawn to dusk. Time spent foraging and the number of foraging bouts greater than 5 min in duration were different among progeny of different sires. These differences in behaviour did not affect liveweight gain. Liveweight gain over the 6-week trial period was significantly higher for progeny from one wapiti sire than for all red deer sire progeny while being managed on the kale diet (P < 0.001), but there were no differences among progeny on the pasture diet. Conclusion Foraging behaviour varied considerably between sire lines and appeared to vary between forage type, but there were no correlations between behaviour and liveweight gain in this trial. Implications Forage type offered to young red deer may alter their foraging behaviour. Offering an easier to harvest high digestible forage diet may increase liveweight gain of progeny that have a higher genetic potential to grow during the winter period.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GPS-derived foraging behaviour of red deer and liveweight gain of red deer and wapiti crossbred sire lines on contrasting winter forage types

et al. 2023

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The LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at the Jornada Experimental Range: Old genetics, new precision technologies, and adaptive value chains

Spiegal,

Estell,

Cibils

et al. 2024

J of Env Quality

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Rangelands and the supply chains connected to them are central to the agrifood systems of the Southwestern United States. Local ranchers are simultaneously arid lands managers, herd managers, and marketing managers. To stay in business, they must adapt to unpredictable forage resources and markets while conserving soils and vegetation resources for the long term. As climate warming and drying exacerbate the complexity and difficulty of day‐to‐day production, producers and policymakers are seeking alternatives to “business as usual.” The Long‐Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR)‐Jornada team has developed a package of strategies to help producers adapt to the local and inter‐regional challenges. The package includes heritage cattle, precision ranching systems, and adaptive value chains. Five ranches across the Southwest have adopted different combinations and are partnering with LTAR and each other to measure their benefits and drawbacks in real‐world conditions. Opportunities for controlled experimentation differ among the ranches, so we use LTAR's indicator system to assess and compare results. Even as we invest in co‐producing knowledge about these three strategies, we recognize that progressive aridification and urbanization of Southwestern rangelands create challenges for which a single “silver bullet” of agricultural innovation is unlikely to provide durable solutions. We are learning from our customers and stakeholders about ways to adjust the development of new options.

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Adaptive, multi-paddock, rotational grazing management alters foraging behavior and spatial grazing distribution of free-ranging cattle

Augustine¹,

Kearney²,

Raynor³

et al. 2023

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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Foraging Behavior of Heritage versus Desert-Adapted Commercial Rangeland Beef Cows in Relation to Dam-Offspring Contact Patterns

Cited by 16 publications

References 33 publications

GPS-derived foraging behaviour of red deer and liveweight gain of red deer and wapiti crossbred sire lines on contrasting winter forage types

GPS-derived foraging behaviour of red deer and liveweight gain of red deer and wapiti crossbred sire lines on contrasting winter forage types

The LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at the Jornada Experimental Range: Old genetics, new precision technologies, and adaptive value chains

Adaptive, multi-paddock, rotational grazing management alters foraging behavior and spatial grazing distribution of free-ranging cattle

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