scholarly journals Managing for species composition or diversity? Pastoral and free grazing systems in alkali steppes

2016 ◽  
Vol 234 ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Török ◽  
Orsolya Valkó ◽  
Balázs Deák ◽  
András Kelemen ◽  
Edina Tóth ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
PB Surner ◽  

In many regions of the world, goat milk and its milk products have played a major role in economic viability, particularly in developing countries like India. In terms of getting milk products high in minerals and other protein, the importance of free grazing still prevails and is preferred over stall feeding, but both ways are good in general. With the importance of the above in mind, an approach has been taken in the current study to compare the yield of milk from goats using a stall-feeding system and a free grazing system. Our findings show that milk minerals such as Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, and Sodium are higher in stall-feeding goat systems than in free grazing systems because stall-feeding provides a computed ration – Minerals, Common salt, mineral mixture, concentrate feeding, feed additives, and feed supplement. As a result, milk minerals are higher in stall-feeding goat systems than in free grazing goat systems. Lactose levels are higher in stall-feeding systems than in open grazing systems because leguminous feeds like as lucerne and bersim grasses, as well as green forages, are used. Because they graze freely in the environment and consume various types of feeds, fat percentage is higher in the free grazing system of goats than in the stall-feeding system. Since stall-feeding systems provide feed supplement and concentrate feeding, fat soluble vitamins are higher in stall-feeding systems than in free grazing systems, which is why fat-soluble vitamins are higher in stall-feeding systems of goats.


Author(s):  
M.E. Smith ◽  
A.D. Dawson

Conditions that warrant the development of a new approach to hill country grazing management are outlined. The effect of three grazing systems on pasture growth and species composition is discussed. Livestock feed requirements are related to pasture production. An action calendar shows the modifications to the grazing system which allows better exploitation of the pasture and stock potential. Finally, results of the adoption of the recommended grazing systems are given.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine J. J. Hoogsteen ◽  
Evert-Jan Bakker ◽  
Nick van Eekeren ◽  
Pablo A. Tittonell ◽  
Jeroen C. J. Groot ◽  
...  

Elevating soil organic matter (SOM) levels through changes in grassland management may contribute to lower greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and mitigate climate change. SOM dynamics of grassland soils may be affected by grazing systems and plant species composition. We analyzed the effects of simulated grazing systems (continuous (CG), rotational (RG), and lenient strip grazing (LG)) and species composition (monocultures of perennial ryegrass fertilized (LP+) and unfertilized (LP−)), tall fescue (fertilized, FA+), and a mixture of these two species with white clover (fertilized, LFT+)) on root biomass and SOM dynamics in field experiments on loamy and sandy soils in the Netherlands. Dried cattle manure was added to all fertilized treatments. We hypothesized that SOM accumulation would be highest under CG and LG, and FA+ and LFT+ as a consequence of greater belowground biomass production. SOM was monitored after conversion from arable land for a period of two years (loamy and sandy soil) and five years (sandy soil). We found that management practices to increase SOM storage were strongly influenced by sampling depth and length of the grassland period. SOM increased significantly in nearly all fertilized treatments in the 0–60 cm layer. No differences between species compositions were found. However, when only the 30–60 cm soil layer was considered, significantly higher SOM increases were found under FA+, which is consistent with its greater root biomass than the other species. SOM increases tended to be higher under LG than RG. The results of this study suggest that it seems possible to comply with the 4-thousandth initiative during a period of five years with fertilized perennial ryegrass or tall fescue in monoculture after conversion from arable land. It remains to be investigated to which extent this sequestration of carbon can be maintained after converting grassland back to arable land.


EDIS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose C.B. Dubeux ◽  
Nicolas DiLorenzo ◽  
Kalyn Waters ◽  
Jane C. Griffin

Florida has 915,000 beef cows and 125,000 replacement heifers (USDA, 2016). Developing these heifers so that they can become productive females in the cow herd is a tremendous investment in a cow/calf operation, an investment that takes several years to make a return. The good news is that there are options to develop heifers on forage-based programs with the possibility of reducing costs while simultaneously meeting performance targets required by the beef industry. Mild winters in Florida allows utilization of cool-season forages that can significantly enhance the performance of grazing heifers. During the warm-season, integration of forage legumes into grazing systems will provide additional nutrients to meet the performance required to develop a replacement heifer to become pregnant and enter the mature cow herd. In this document, we will propose a model for replacement heifer development, based on forage research performed in trials at the NFREC Marianna.   


Author(s):  
J. Hodgson

Recent assessments of the relative importance of stocking rate. stocking policy and grazing management on the output from pastoral systems are used as a starting point to argue the need for objective pasture assessments to aid control of livestock enterprises to meet production targets. Variations in stocking rates, stocking policy and other management practices all provide alternative means of control of pasture conditions which are the major determinants of pasture and animal performance. Understanding of the influence of pasture conditions on systems performance should provide a better basis for management control and for Communication between farmers, extension officers and researchers. Keywords: Stocking rate, pasture condition, pasture cover


Author(s):  
J.G. Jago ◽  
M.W. Woolford

There is a growing shortage of labour within the dairy industry. To address this the industry needs to attract more people and/or reduce the labour requirements on dairy farms. Current milk harvesting techniques contribute to both the labour requirements and the current labour shortage within the industry as the process is labour-intensive and necessitates long and unsociable working hours. Automated milking systems (AMS) have been in operation, albeit on a small scale, on commercial farms in Europe for a decade and may have the potential to address labour issues within the New Zealand dairy industry. A research programme has been established (The Greenfield Project) which aims to determine the feasibility of automated milking under New Zealand dairying conditions. A Fullwoods MERLIN AMS has been installed on a protoype farmlet and is successfully milking a small herd of 41 cows. Progress from the prototype Greenfields system offers considerable potential for implementing AMS in extensive grazing systems. Keywords: automated milking systems, dairy cattle, grazing, labour


2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1279-1286
Author(s):  
G.P. Kononenko ◽  
◽  
E.A. Piryazeva ◽  
E.V. Zotova ◽  
A.A. Burkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

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