Lucerne survival in south-east Queensland in relation to grazing management systems

1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (97) ◽  
pp. 208 ◽  
Author(s):  
GJ Leach
Keyword(s):  
Perennial Grass ◽  
Crown Rot ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Colletotrichum Trifolii ◽  
Tropical Environments ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Average Monthly Rainfall

Survival of lucerne plants and changes in the row cover of lucerne in relation to grazing management were studied in an experiment at Lawes, south-east Queensland, from 1971 to 1977. There were six grazed treatments (resting for 32 or 44 days combined with grazing for 4 or 16 days, resting for 56 days with grazing for 4 days, and resting for 40 days with grazing for 8 days) and three mown treatments (mown every 36,48 or 60 days). All grazing was with sheep, at a stocking rate equivalent to 20 ha-1 on a year round basis. The experiment was irrigated when necessary to ensure that moisture at least equivalent to the long-term average monthly rainfall was received. There were about 42 lucerne plants m-2 in November 1971 and about 13 plants m-2 in October 1977; thus lucerne survival was good in all treatments, with stands losing about five plants m-2 annum-1. Management effects were small, with survival and row cover becoming slightly better as the interval between grazings or mowings increased from 32 to 60 days. Grazing for four days gave poorer survival than either grazing for 8 or 16 days or mowing. Perennial grass cover was much greater with four-day grazing than in the other treatments. Inspection at the end of the experiment showed nearly all crowns to have moderate symptoms of crown rot caused by Colletotrichum trifolii. The need for critical attention to the interaction between moisture supply, grass invasion and disease accumulation in maintaining lucerne stands in sub-tropical environments is discussed.

scholarly journals Effects of three whole-farmlet management systems on Merino ewe fat scores and reproduction

2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 740 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. N. Hinch ◽  
M. Lollback ◽  
S. Hatcher ◽  
J. Hoad ◽  
R. Marchant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Additive Model ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Generalised Additive Model ◽  
District Management ◽  
Average Proportion ◽  
Fat Score

As part of the Cicerone Project’s whole-farmlet experiment on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, the fat scores and reproductive performance of ewes were measured to assess the effect of different management systems on these important production parameters over time. The three farmlets (each of 53 ha) included one (farmlet B) subjected to ‘typical’ district management consisting of moderate levels of inputs and a target stocking rate of 7.5 dse/ha, with flexible grazing management across eight paddocks. A second farmlet (A) was managed in a similar fashion to farmlet B with respect to number of paddocks and grazing management, but modified by high rates of pasture renovation and higher levels of soil fertility, with a target stocking rate of 15 dse/ha. The third farmlet (C) was managed at the same level of moderate inputs as farmlet B but employed intensive rotational grazing over 37 paddocks and also had a high target stocking rate of 15 dse/ha. The experiment was conducted over 6.5 years from July 2000 to December 2006. In spite of the fact that target levels of stocking rate were chosen at the beginning of the experiment, stocking rate, together with fat scores and reproduction were treated as emergent properties of each farmlet system. Joining took place in April–May and lambing occurred in September–October of each year. Over the first 2 years of the experiment, there were few differences among farmlets in ewe fat scores or reproductive performance. From 2003 onwards, while the percentage of ewes pregnant was similar between farmlets, the average proportion of multiple births (ewes scanned in late July, with twins) was 30%, 16% and 12%, respectively, on farmlets A–C. However, lamb losses were greater on farmlet A, with average lamb mortalities recorded on farmlets A–C of 29%, 10% and 19%, respectively. Over the duration of the experiment, ewes on farmlets A and B were more often above a fat score level of 3, and less often below 2.5, than were ewes from farmlet C. Differences among farmlet ewes in fat score were found to be significant in 7 of the total of 13 assessments over the duration of the experiment. A generalised additive model applied to whole-farmlet data showed that green digestible herbage, legume herbage, stocking rate, the amount of supplement fed and especially the proportion of each farmlet grazed at any one time all influenced fat scores of ewes. While fat scores and conception rates tended to be highest on farmlet A, farmlet B had slightly better reproductive outcomes due to less lambing losses, whereas ewes on farmlet C tended to have somewhat lower fat scores and levels of reproduction. These farmlet-scale findings highlighted the importance for livestock managers to focus not only on grazing management, stocking rate and stock density during lambing, but also on the availability of sufficient green, and especially legume herbage, and the difficulty of overcoming a deficit in quality herbage with supplementation.

scholarly journals Building the GLENCOE Platform -Grasslands LENding eConomic and ecOsystems sErvices

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thais Devincenzi ◽  
Martín Jaurena ◽  
Martín Durante ◽  
Jean Víctor Savian ◽  
Gabriel Ciappesoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grazing Management ◽  
System Level ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Natural Grasslands ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Livestock Systems

To feed the rising population whilst also preserving ecosystem functions, creative solutions are needed for the ecological intensification of natural grassland-based livestock systems. In Uruguay, natural grasslands are the main nutritional resource for livestock production. In these ecosystems, cattle and sheep graze together all the year round, and grasslands are frequently heavily grazed. Considerable research has been generated concerning grassland management, but there is still no knowledge about the impact of decision rules that supports management actions on long-term ecosystem functioning, at the system level. To meet this deficit, a participatory working group of farmers, researchers, and consultants have developed the GLENCOE platform. This platform is a large-scale facility, supported by INIA-Uruguay, designed to answer the following question: How to intensify the grazing management to improve the sustainability of livestock systems based on natural grasslands? To build the platform three steps were followed: (I) definition of the research problem using a problem tree analysis; (ii) conceptualization of the platform and the design of the grazing systems to be evaluated; and, (iii) spatial allocation of the grazing systems according to the variability of soil, slopes, and seasonal dynamic of vegetation indexes. These criteria were considered across farmlets that were equivalent in the initial stage, allowing causal inferences for the systems trajectories on productive and environmental traits. The platform is composed of three independent farmlets of 50 ha each, where multiparous Hereford cows and Merinos wethers co-graze under three grazing management systems. Each farmlet is managed according to different spatio-temporal decisions of the specific management of vegetation communities, grazing methods, and the stockpile of forage that is allowed by the number of the existing paddocks. Farmlet-1; comprises less decisions (2 paddocks), Farmlet-2; intermediate (8 paddocks), and Farmlet-3; high level of decisions (32 paddocks). This innovative platform will be used as a participatory and interdisciplinary space for research and co-learning of management on processes that can only be observed in long-term evaluations, and at farmlet scale. We expect that this new approach will contribute to the developement and implemention of sustainable grazing management systems in Uruguay.

scholarly journals Managing the unmanageable: reinstating the dingo for pastoral sustainability in Australian rangelands

2021 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
David Pollock
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Government Funding ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Sustainable Land Management ◽  
Rest Periods ◽  
Arid Rangelands ◽  
Term Management

The predominant grazing management system used in the arid rangelands regions of Australia, set stocking, is not conducive to sustainable land management. More appropriate grazing management systems based upon periodic rest periods for important pasture species have not been adopted by pastoralists because the unmanaged grazing pressure from animals such as goats and kangaroos has been too high. Dingoes are the only cost-effective and long-term management solution to the effect of unmanaged grazing by goats and kangaroos. Yet government funding targets dingo eradication in pastoral areas, and it does so by adopting misleading and scientifically inaccurate terms for describing dingoes.

Grazed pasture parameters. III. Relationships of pasture and animal parameters in, and general discussion of a stocking rate and grazing management experiment with dairy cows

1966 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Management System ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Production Parameters ◽  
Grazed Pasture ◽  
Stocking Rates

1. Pasture parameters have been correlated with animal production parameters from a trial in which two management systems (‘controlled’ and ‘uncontrolled’ grazing), each at two stocking rates (0.95 and 1.19 cows/acre), were compared.2. Per acre butterfat production was positively related to percentage utilization of available D.M., but negatively related to yield of available D.M.3. Per cow butterfat production was significantly and positively correlated with yield of available D.M. in the two months after calving (August and September) and in the penultimate month of lacta-tion (April), but this correlation was not significant in other months.4. It is concluded that management system was as important as stocking rate in increasing the utilization of pasture and animal production from pasture.

scholarly journals MANAGEMENT INFLUENCES ON SHEEP BEHAVIOUR, DUNG DISTRIBUTION AND SOIL PHOSPHATE

1985 ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.S. Thorrold ◽  
K.F. O'Connor ◽  
J.G.H. White
Keyword(s):  
Plant Uptake ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Nutrient Cycle ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Olsen P ◽  
Animal Distribution ◽  
Resting Behaviour ◽  
Stocking Rates

The behaviour of Merino wether hoggets grazing an existing management experiment at Tara Hills High Country Research Station was studied during summer 198111982. The experiment compared three stocking rates and three management systems (continuous, two paddock intermittent grazing, six paddock rotational). The daytime distribution and activity of the hoggets, dung distribution, and Olsen-P levels of topsoils were recorded on ten altitudinal strata within each of the nine treatment areas. Dung frequency was more closely correlated to grazing distribution than to either resting or total animal distribution. This is contrary to the generally accepted belief that dung accumulation is associated with resting behaviour. Increasing stocking ra?e !ed ?o a more even grazing and dung distribution. Subdivision by itself did not improve the evenness of distribution although it may have enhanced the stocking rate influence. There was little correlation between dung frequency and soil Olsen- P levels, especially outside the night camp areas. This indicates the importance of factors such as plant uptake and herbage consumption in the phosphate nutrient cycle. Olsen-P levels were consistently higher in the high stocking rate paddocks relative to the low stocking rate. Levels in the medium stocking rate fluctuated between these two. The implications of these findings in regard to the effects of intensification of farming in the high country on nutrient cycling and fertiliser requirements are discussed. Keywords: animal behaviour, dung distribution, tussock grasslands, phosphate, grazing management.

Changes in pH and organic carbon were minimal in a long-term field study in the Western District of Victoria

2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. D. Cayley ◽  
M. R. McCaskill ◽  
G. A. Kearney
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Perennial Grass ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Stocking Rates

Changes in soil pH from a long-term experiment at Hamilton, Vic., associated with time, fertiliser application, and stocking rate were assessed. The pH was measured in a 1 :5 suspension of soil in water (pHW) from 1980 onwards and in a 1:5 suspension of soil in 0.01 M CaCl2 (pHCa) from 1984 onwards. Topsoils (0–10 cm) were sampled regularly from 1980 to 1999, and the soil profile to a depth of 80 cm in 1994. The site was sown to perennial ryegrass, phalaris, and subterranean clover in 1977. Treatments fertilised with different amounts of superphosphate were grazed by sheep at stocking rates of 7–19 dry sheep equivalents (DSE)/ha. Average applications of phosphorus (P) ranged from 0.5 to 38.7 kg P/ha.year. The pHCa of the topsoil in 1984 was 4.9. It decreased at an average rate of 0.005 pHCa or 0.008 pHW units/year, with little variation due to fertiliser or stocking rate. Measurements in 1994 revealed subtle but statistically significant (P < 0.01) trends in soil pHCa that were associated with grazing pressure, inputs of fertiliser, and whether or not areas sampled were used by the sheep for camping. The top 0–5 cm of soil was slightly less acidic (+0.07 pHCa units) in the camp areas compared with non-camp areas. Below 5 cm to a depth of 80 cm, camp areas were more acidic (–0.19 pHCa units). At the highest stocking rates, heavier applications of superphosphate were associated with greater subsoil acidity: –0.06 pHCa units per 100 kg phosphorus (P) applied. There was no relationship at medium stocking rates. At low stocking rates, higher P applications were associated with more alkaline subsoils. Net removal of product from 1979 to 1994 (wool and meat removed from plots and excreta transferred to camps) was estimated to be equivalent to 140–380 kg/ha of lime over this 15-year period. The organic carbon (OC) content of the topsoil did not change over 20 years of records from 1979, and was unaffected by inputs of P. In 1994, the OC content of the 0–5 cm layer of topsoil was greater than the 5–10 cm layer (mean values 5.5% and 3.8% respectively; P < 0.001). The OC content of camp areas was higher than that of non-camp areas, this difference being more pronounced in the 0–5 cm layer (P < 0.01). It was concluded that the rate of change of pH was slow because of the high pH buffering capacity of the soil, the small amount of alkalinity removed in product, and the generally high perennial grass content of the pastures. Soils shown to be at greatest risk of acidification from this study were those under camp areas, and where high fertiliser rates were applied to pastures with a low perennial grass content. Rotational grazing should diminish these problems by reducing the concentration of excreta in camp areas, and favouring perennials over annuals in both camp and non-camp areas. Inputs of lime may eventually be needed to compensate for the acidifying effect of product removal.

Effect of stocking rate, fodder conservation and grazing management on the performance of wether sheep in south-west Victoria. 1. Wool production

1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (73) ◽  
pp. 173 ◽  
Author(s):  
AH Bishop ◽  
HA Birrell
Keyword(s):  
Major Effect ◽  
Factorial Experiment ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Maximum Response ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Wool Production ◽  
The Third ◽  
South West ◽  
Stocking Rates

In a 4 x 4 x 3 factorial experiment lasting three years, the effects of stocking rate, fodder conservation and three grazing management systems (continuous, deferred and rotational) on the wool production of wethers grazing perennial pasture were assessed. The hay conserved on the plots was fed to the sheep in such a way that the quantities made and fed would balance over a period of years. At the highest rate of stocking some oats were fed in adverse seasons. Stocking rate had the major effect on wool production in all years. Improving wool production by fodder conservation was shown to depend on stocking rate, grazing management and the seasonal conditions. In some instances fodder conservation was shown to interact with stocking rate in a manner such that the maximum response tended to occur when smaller proportions of area were conserved as stocking rate increased. The implications of this interaction are discussed. Fodder conservation increased wool production in the continuous and rotationally grazed systems in all years, but did not in two of the three years with deferred grazing. The biggest increases in wool production due to fodder conservation occurred in the third year, the driest on record when a drought reserve was used. Wool production was also influenced by the grazing management. In alt-years there was a consistent interaction with stocking rate in which the highest wool production was produced in the rotational system at high stocking rates and in the deferred system at low stocking rates.

GRAZING SYSTEMS FOR EWES AND LAMBS

1962 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. W. Calder ◽  
J. W. G. Nicholson ◽  
H. M. Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Rotational Grazing ◽  
Creep Feeding ◽  
Free Range ◽  
Internal Parasites ◽  
Grazing Systems

Two experiments were conducted to compare forward creep grazing of lambs with other grazing management systems for ewes and lambs. In the first experiment, forward creep grazing with and without creep feeding of concentrates was compared with rotational grazing, using 7 ewes with single lambs per plot of [Formula: see text] acres. The first lambs reached market weight by the 57th day of the experiment, at which time the average lamb gains were higher on the creep grazed-creep fed groups, but there was no difference in the gains on the other two systems. The experiment was continued for 35 days and during this period the lamb gains on the creep grazed plots were higher than on the rotationally grazed areas. This later period coincided with a period of reduced herbage growth due to below normal precipitation. The average daily gains for the entire experimental period were.45,.51 and.57 pounds for rotational, creep, and creep fed-creep grazed systems respectively.In the second experiment, forward creep grazing was compared with rotational grazing and free range grazing, using a higher stocking rate of 8 ewes and 10 lambs per plot. The average daily gains for the experiment were.38,.40 and.34 pounds for rotational, creep grazed, and free range systems respectively. The differences between grazing systems were not statistically significant at P = 0.05. Both the ewe and lamb gains were lower on the free-range system than on the other systems. The ewe gains were higher on the rotationally grazed areas than the forward creep grazed areas in both experiments. This indicates that forward creep grazing of lambs can be advantageous under conditions where herbage is abundant.Evidence obtained from helminth ova counts on fecal samples, and examination of representative digestive tracts of the lambs marketed, indicated that the forward creep grazing of lambs reduced but did not prevent a build-up of internal parasites.

scholarly journals NUTRITION OF GRAZING SHEEP

1959 ◽  
pp. 86-98
Author(s):  
L.R. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Animal Performance ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Clear Idea ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Long Term Studies

During recent years quite a lot of information has been accumulated which shows the way in which sheep respond to different levels of feeding imposed for short periods at different times of the year. As a result, we have a very clear idea of which are the more, and which are the less important periods from the point of view of animal performance. Although there is still a very great need for long-term studies on a complete farm basis, designed to ascertain the grazing management systems that will give the best over-all results on different types of farm in different localities, the work already done has, at least, established the main principles upon which grazing management must be based if good results are to be obtained.

Carbon dioxide efflux from long-term grazing management systems in a semiarid region

2013 ◽  
Vol 164 ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Liebig ◽  
S.L. Kronberg ◽  
J.R. Hendrickson ◽  
X. Dong ◽  
J.R. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Efflux
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