The Improvement of Hill Pastures for Agriculture

Abstract

In concluding the 1968 Symposium on hill land productivity (56), which has been taken as the starting point for this survey, the late Dr William Davies requested that someone prepare a blueprint for the overall development of hill lands and, more specifically, a scheme for agriculture which should include the full integration ot known facts into whole viable systems of husbandry. Since then, Walsh and Lee (111) have proposed a systems strategy for marginal land based on the concept of integrating oflF-farm feed energy with hill rough grazings, while Eadie (31, 32, 33) has proposed a 'two-pasture' year-round grazing system for sheep. The former scheme requires the provision of large areas of better quality land for conservation of herbage, or the buying of considerable quantities of feed which may not be economically feasible in all circumstances in hill areas of Great Britain. The 'two-pasture' system was designed to overcome the ecological deficiencies of traditional systems (24, 25, 30) and it has been shown to succeed in two highly contrasting environments (34, 35). A similar kind of approach is currently being tried in other areas (53, 97, 108).The most important single factor which influences animal output from the hills is nutrition and, although it is more critical prior to mating (50), iri late pregnancy (101) and during lactation (89), it needs to be improved throughout the year if output is to be increased. The key to an improved nutrition cycle for the grazing animal lies in pasture improvement.The development of successful whole-farm systems of hill sheep farming which depend on pasture improvement justifies a review of the present state of techniques for improvement and the identification of gaps in our knowledge.In addition to the above considerations:1. There is an increased awareness of the pressures of population growth on food supplies, coupled with the annual loss of approximately 20,000 hectares of good quality arable land. Wider discussion on the national needs for the improvement of hill-land use (1, 7, 52, 84) and of the particular needs in Scotland, with the largest proportion of hill land in Britain (103), has stimulated renewed interest in this subject.2. The impact of the world energy crisis on thoughts about the energy budgets of agriculture (17, 104) has indicated new grounds for supporting meat production from the hills and uplands (105). 3. The world meat shortage emphasises the importance of livestock. Although the hills produce only 7% of the total monetary agricultural output in the United Kingdom, they contribute 30% of the store sheep and 15% of the store cattle. Cunningham and Ashton (26) have recently calculated that at least 0*5 million hectares of good quality lowland would be needed to produce this output. Even if this land was available, the capital cost of preparing it for intensive livestock rearing would be immense. 4. There has been increased interest in recent years in the development of improved methods for assessing the economics of farming systems (51, 69, 70) a...

Nitrogen fixation by white clover in hill pasture

“…The high proportion of fixed N in clover noted in this study has been observed by a number of workers in forage (Loginov, 1966;Trefachev and Khabarova, 1966;Simpson, 1965) and grain (Mouchova and Apltauer, 1968;Trefachev et al, 1967) legumes and is an indication of the importance of effective symbiosis in the hill pasture system (Walker et al, 1954;Newbould, 1974;Jones et al, 1964;Masterson, 1973).…”

Mycorrhizal Infection in Pennine Grassland. I. Levels of Infection in the Field

“…Upland grasslands in Britain frequently have a low phosphate status (Newbould 1974) and the plant species present in upland grassland are often infected by VA mycorrhizal fungi (Ali 1969;Gerdemann & Nicolson 1963;Mejstrik 1972). Tropical grasses and legumes often respond to VA infections (Crush 1974;Mosse, Hayman & Arnold 1973;Mosse, Powell & Hayman 1976), but responses of temperate grasses to infection in Britain and New Zealand have been smaller and have developed more slowly (Ali 1976;Crush 1973a, b;.…”

The relationships between stolon characteristics, winter survival and annual yields in white clover (Trifolium repens L.)

“…An important aspect of the interaction between grass and clover, and therefore their compatibility, is the slower growth of clover at low temperatures (Williams, 1970;Newbould, 1974;Rhodes, 1981;Frame and Newbould, 1984). It seems likely, therefore, that clover is placed at a competitive disadvantage in the mixture, which may lead to suppression of clover yield in spring.…”