Some effects of a rotational grazing treatment on quantity and quality of available forage and amount of ground litter
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Authors: R. K. Heitschmidt, S. L. Dowhower, and J. W. Walker
Date: 1987
Journal: Journal of Range Management
Volume: 40
Number: 4
Pages: 318-321
Summary of Methods: Heitschmidt et al. compared forage quality and standing crop following 3 years of a rotational grazing treatment under heavy stocking with vegetation after 40 years of moderate continuous grazing in the Texas rolling plains. There was no difference between treatments in herbage growth dynamics. Due to greater standing dead material under continuous grazing, the rotational grazing treatment had higher forage quality (crude protein and organic matter digestibility). Both litter biomass and available forage were greater under continuous grazing. Results indicate differences in stocking rates and not grazing systems.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: crude protein, organic matter digestibility, cell grazing, continuous grazing
Annotation: Rate of stocking in the rotational grazing system was 3.7/cow/year as compared to a moderate rate of 5.9/cow/year in the yearlong continuously grazed treatment. Immediately before and after every grazing period from March 1981 to December 1984, the herbaceous vegetation in the rotational grazing system was clipped at ground level. Vegetation in the yearlong continuous treatment was sampled in a like manner but only on 7 dates: January, June, and September, 1983; and January, March, May, and August 1984.
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