Improving livestock productivity: Assessment of feed resources and livestock management practices in Sudan-Savanna zones of West Africa

AbstractRotational grazing (RG) is a livestock management practice that rotates grazing cattle on a scale of hours to days among small pastures termed paddocks. It may beneficially affect stream channels, relative to other livestock management practices. Such effects and other beneficial effects on hydrology are important to RG's potential to provide a highly multifunctional mode of livestock farming. Previous comparisons of effects of RG and confinement dairy (CD) on adjoining streams have been restricted in scale and scope. We examined 11 stream-channel characteristics on a representative sample of 37 small dairy farms that used either RG or CD production methods. Our objectives were: (1) to compare channel characteristics on RG and CD farms, as these production methods are implemented in practice, in New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, USA; and (2) to examine land use on these farms that may affect stream-channel characteristics. To help interpret channel characteristic findings, we examined on-farm land use in riparian areas 50 m in width along both sides of stream reaches and whole-farm land use. In all states, stream-channel characteristics on RG and CD farms did not differ. Whole-farm land use differed significantly between farm types; CD farms allocated more land to annual row crops, whereas RG farms allocated more land to pasture and grassland. However, land cover in 50 m riparian areas was not different between farm types within states; in particular, many RG and CD farms had continuously grazed pastures in riparian areas, typically occupied by juvenile and non-lactating cows, which may have contributed sediment and nutrients to streams. This similarity in riparian management practices may explain the observed similarity of farm types with respect to stream-channel characteristics. To realize the potential benefits of RG on streams, best management practices that affect stream-channel characteristics, such as protection of riparian areas, may improve aggregate effects of RG on stream quality and also enhance other environment, economic and social benefits of RG.

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The influence of ecosystem goods and services on livestock management practices on the Bokkeveld plateau, South Africa

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment ◽

10.1016/j.agee.2007.01.025 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 122 (3) ◽

pp. 312-324 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

P.J. O’Farrell ◽

J.S. Donaldson ◽

M.T. Hoffman

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Management Practices ◽

Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Livestock Management

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An E. E. C. viewpoint on animal waste disposal

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.1982.0009 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 296 (1082) ◽

pp. 333-339 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Production Management ◽

Management Practices ◽

Research Programme ◽

Animal Waste ◽

Chemical Fertilizers ◽

Forage Crops ◽

Arable Crops ◽

Administrative Action ◽

Livestock Management

Livestock management practices have evolved considerably in the E. E. C. during the last two decades. The development of intensive confined rearing without using litter results in the production of vast quantities of animal waste slurries, which create serious disposal problems. Yet these wastes possess a fertilizing value that should be used as much as possible to replace increasingly expensive chemical fertilizers. The Commission of the European Communities sponsored a coordinated research programme on livestock effluents to assess the levels of fertilizing elements in slurries and to establish mathematical models aimed at predicting environmental effects as well as specifying the economic aspects of the land spreading of slurries, and to enable livestock production management to be included in the context of planning and regional policies. The main results obtained on the characterization of slurry and on its use for arable crops, grassland and forage crops are presented, together with some recommendations for administrative action.

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Analysis of constraints to agricultural production in the Sudan Savanna zone of Nigeria using multi-scale characterization

Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.18174/njas.v46i1.494 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 27-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

A.O. Ogungbile ◽

R. Tabo ◽

N. Van Duivenbooden ◽

S.K. Debrah

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Production ◽

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Agricultural Technologies ◽

Household Level ◽

Multi Scale ◽

Scale Characterization ◽

Extensive Farming ◽

Sudan Savanna ◽

Savanna Zone

A multi-scale characterization approach was used to identify the major constraints to agricultural production and to describe the major production systems in the Sudan Savanna Zone of northern Nigeria. Relative emphasis was placed on the household-level characterization to have a better understanding of the land use system, farmers' constraints and opportunities, so as to better target agricultural technologies and interventions in this large agro-ecological zone. Large variations exist in agricultural management practices among villages and households in terms of access to resources, such as labour, fertilizers, livestock, farm equipment, and land. Intensive and extensive farming practices co-exist within the same villages and households. Results were also used to identify benchmark sites.

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