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Grazing and Range/Pasture Management
Also known as pastoralism, grazing livestock have been around for millennia, ever since domestic animals--cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, horses--have been successfully domesticated. Grazing involves the consumption of forages and range or pasture management is a tool used to control grazing activities of livestock, primarily in effort to improve the quality of the land.
578 Questions
Is pendimethlin approved for pastures to control weedy grasses?
Increases in alkaline phosphatase level and liver weight were produced in dogs fed 50 and 200 mg/kg for 2 years. No effects were observed at 12.5 mg/kg/day (2, 4). In a 90 day feeding study of rats, the NOEL was 500 ppm (40 mg/kg/day) (4). Slightly fewer offspring with decreased weight gain from weaning to maturity were observed in a 3-generation reproductive study of rats tested at levels up to 250 mg/kg. No effects were observed at 30 mg/kg (40 mg/kg) (2, 4). No birth defects and no toxic effects on fetuses occurred when pregnant rats were given 500 mg/kg, the highest dose tested. The NOEL and the highest dose tested in a teratology study with rabbits was 60 mg/kg (4). EPA reports that several mutagenicity studies, including tests on live animals and mammalian and bacterial cell cultures, have all shown that pendimethalin is not mutagenic (4). EPA is currently reviewing the carcinogenicity data for pendimethalin. Increases in alkaline phosphatase level and liver weight were produced in dogs fed 50 and 200 mg/kg for 2 years (2, 4). By 24 hours after the administration of 37 mg/kg of radio-labeled pendimethalin to rats, 90.3% of the dose was recovered in the feces and urine. After 96 hours, 95.8% of the dose was recovered in the urine (20.9%) and feces (74.9%). When a lower dose was administered (7.3 mg/kg), 99.8% was recovered in the urine (21.8%) and feces (78.0%) after 12 hours. After 96 hours, residues were less than 0.3 ppm in all body tissues except fat, which had 0.9 ppm. This study indicates that ingested pendimethalin is largely unabsorbed by the bloodstream and excreted through the feces. Pendimethalin which does become absorbed into the bloodstream from the gastrointestinal tract is rapidly metabolized in the kidneys and liver and is then excreted in the urine (7).
What is the term for people who move from place to place in search of pastures for their livestock?
nomadic herders or farmers
Nomads
Nomads
Common grazing refers to the practice of farmers grazing their cattle on a piece of land that is held by the group as a whole or sometimes by someone else.
You can get much more detailed descriptions at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_land
What affects the nutrient content of a pasture?
Soil quality
Soil type
Moisture
Grazing activities
Time of year
Type of fertilization
Type of livestock grazed
Often the plants that are in the pasture are the indicators of soil quality. Presence of certain weeds mean that the soil is deficient in some mineral, for instance. The nutrient quality of pasture is dependent on the quality of the soil. That's where the plants grow, and what the plants NEED to grow. Type of plants, types of animals used, grazing management comes after, but all are integrated to pasture health. Soil and grazing management are the two most important things that dictate what quality pastures you have, as well as the flexibility to improve your pastures.
Where are the largest areas of ranching and grazing?
Areas in Western United States and Canada. Australia and New Zealand are also home to large ranches (they call them stations down there) and grazing operations. Western States include South Dakota, Montana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, North Dakota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. In Canada, Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba are the largest areas where you will find many grazing and ranching operations.
How much area of grass will provide 167 lbs of dry matter?
This depends on the type of grass, it's stage of maturity, and its moisture content. One hundred sixty-seven pounds of dry matter (all water removed) can be anywhere from 500 to 800 pounds of actual-matter (or as-fed).
Finally, area also depends on the nutrition of the soil and soil type, and the amount of precipitation the area receives. A poorly fertile, dry location will dictate that 167 lb of DM grass is going to cover a lot more area than a highly fertile, moist location. One entire acre can hold 167 lb of DM grass, or merely 100 square feet or less. Highly moist areas will provide much more forage yield than dry areas, and highly-fertile soil will provide more forage yield than poorly fertile soil. Certain grass species will also provide more forage than others.
As a result, there is no definite answer. Each location will be different as far as forage yield is concerned.
Can horses and llamas graze together?
Yes, although it always depends on the temper, and such, of the animals. So not all llamas will graze with horses and vice versa.
What does the word grazing mean?
to eat little once in a while not one meal at a time
To feed on plants and grasses in a field.
To touch lightly, such as-->The bullet grazed his arm, giving him a small scratch.
Well, I guess they could. I mean if they are pecking at each others behinds then that is something called molting. It is a seasonal thing.
another view
The most likely place the the hens are being attacked is where they roost and that still could be an overcrowding problem. Ideally you want at least 18 inches of space per bird on the roosting bar.
The broody hens are often the aggressors and will defend the nest vigorously. Check how much light gets into the coop at night, as just a little light when they are roosting will cause picking thereby weakening the victim and then the other hens will continue to harass that bird all day further weakening and killing the hen.
What percent of Africa's land is suitable for grazing?
According to Wikipedia, roughly 66% is suitable for livestock grazing.
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Controlled grazing is allowing farm animals to graze a field for a brief period of time to protect the area from the damages of grazing. When some animals graze, they dig up roots and everything. This will de-grass an area and make it succeptable for erosion. By limiting graze time, fields can produce all year round instead of being a one time harvest.
Answer 2:
Controlled grazing is a management practice designed to regulate the amount of time and the amount of grazing that should take place within a particular paddock or pasture in order to either increase/optimize animal performance or forage quality or both. Controlled grazing is mainly used to control the quality, yield, consumption and persistence of forage from pasture. The area of fresh pasture provided to a set number of animals for a given period (known as stock density or carrying capacity) is changed to control the amount of forage eaten, its quality, and how long each pasture or paddock is rested between grazing periods. In this way, it's possible to match pasture growth with the animals' requirements. Surplus growth is conserved as hay or silage, while growth shortages are made up by careful feeding of supplements.
Controlled grazing is one of many names given to the term Managed Intensive Grazing or MIG. Other names include Mob Grazing, Rotational Grazing, Intensive Grazing, etc.
From the first answer above, Time Controlled Grazing is what occurs when you, "[allow] farm animals to graze a field for a brief period of time..." TCG is very important for pastures/rangeland that have native grasses which are more prone to decreasing in population size than tame grasses. There is also another name for this method, and it's abbreviated as HFLI, or High-Frequency-Low Intensity. This method is also useable on tame pastures, where grazers are only allowed to take off about 10 to 20% of the forage mass before moving on to another paddock, but the return frequency is much faster than the HILF grazing, or High Intensity-Low Frequency grazing (taking ~70% cover and coming back to it 30 to 50 days later).
"...to protect the area from the damages of grazing." This statement depends on what area needs to be protected from grazing, what animals are being used for MIG and how grazing is being utilized. For instance, allowing livestock to graze in a particular area for a "brief period of time" may apply to riparian areas that are being fenced off from regular grazing areas accessed by cattle, for instance. Riparian areas are land that surrounds a body of water, be it a pond, a creek, a slough, a lake or a river. Riparian areas are critical wildlife habitat for birds, insects and mammals, as well as areas where a huge variety of indigenous and vulnerable plant life exist. Livestock that are in this area for long trample these plants, eat all the leaves off the trees as far as they can reach, and make a big mud hole where a healthy pond or slough once was. Livestock are not as careful where they step and what they eat as other native wildlife species are such as deer, elk and moose.
However, any grassland, native or tame, is susceptible to damage from grazing if it is not managed properly. Overgrazing stems from livestock grazing an area too many times too often, resulting in poorer plant vigour and root death. A few parts of one pasture can be overgrazed than other parts, simply because the livestock have been able to access the whole pasture and are not controlled to particular sections; hence controlled grazing and MIG.
Ironically, the most common type of grazing is when livestock are allowed to graze until the forage is only 3 to 4 inches in height. Hoof action, deposition of urine and feces in a more uniform area aid in increasing pasture growth. However, the cincher is that livestock are not allowed to graze a certain area until it is at least 10 to 12 inches in height. If grazed any shorter, this compromises root recovery, energy storage in the roots (decreasing this as plants are repeatedly grazed below this ideal height), and grass' ability to depend on photosynthesis alone. This is why HILF grazing stresses low frequency: to prevent overgrazing, and allow the forage plenty of time to recover.
"When some animals graze, they dig up roots and everything. This will de-grass an area and make it succeptable for erosion." It is important to define when and where some grazers will pull up roots as they graze. Pigs are bad for this, and they're best "grazed" in feilds where root crops are being grown, as well as in fields where the crop has already been taken off. Other true grazers like cattle, sheep and horses will pull up grasses in a pasture that has been reseeded that year and have not been prevented from grazing that area for a full year. Grasses and forages that are growing from seed do not have adequate root development enough to anchor the plant in the ground in defense of the pulling action of the grazers, and it is thus important to let them complete their life cycle undisturbed. Forbs in riparian areas can be established for years, but are more susceptible to being pulled up because they always grow from seed, not from tillers nor parent plants like grasses do.
Sheep and horses are the worst for grazing plants right to the dirt. These grazers don't "dig up roots and everything...[de-grassing] an area and [making] it susceptible [to] erosion," they are able to graze plants to the soil, which destroy the growth points of these plants (particularly in grasses and legumes with their growth points right at the ground level), and "de-grassing" an area to the point where it will be susceptible to erosion. That's why it is very important to manage how sheep and horses are being grazed, much more than with cattle.
"By limiting graze time, fields can produce all year round instead of being a one time harvest." This is the beauty of MIG grazing, particularly in permanent pastures. With good grazing practices, a cattle producer can graze his pastures, provided he/she has enough cattle, at least twice a grazing season. Tame pastures or temporary pastures are also able to produce quality forage twice a season with good grazing management. However, other fields are also able to be designed to be grazed only once, and this is primarily with winter grazing practices like swath grazing, bale grazing, and stockpiling.
Controlled/MIG grazing is the "new" method of grazing for grazing more livestock in an area than traditionally done, and is fast becoming the best way to manage and increase pasture productivity with very little inputs like fertilizer and herbicides.
Why maasai community lost their grazing land?
Maasai community lost their grazing lands because their movement was regulated by govt. and many of them were converted into game reserves.
How do you eradicate onion weed from a 12 acre paddock used for grazing horses?
graze-on works really well.... you have to be certified. your local county extension office should be able to tell you who is certified in your area
Is Intensive Grazing more effective than Continuous Grazing?
Yes. Intensive grazing makes better use of pastures since sections of a pasture are harvested at a time, giving the other sections a rest. This contributes to even grazing all around the pasture in all paddocks within that pasture. Continuous grazing encourages undergrazed areas and overgrazed areas, which could encouarge undesirable plant growth and "weed" out the desirable pasture plants.
What happens to a rangeland if it is overgrazed?
The vegetative growth is nearly killed off because it is eaten down to the soil. Which in turn could cause soil erosion.
A ..... of cows was grazing in a field?
A herd Of Cows
Depends on the size of the herd and the size of the "field." There can be maybe no cows, or only one, or there may be 100 cows.
How much lawnyard do you need to pasture a sheep or a goat?
In multi-species grazing, with cows, goats, and sheep in the same pasture or paddock together, it can be seen that the cattle prefer the grass, sheep the forbs (broad-leafed herbs), and goats the browse (woody herbs and shrubs). Each species does eat of all three categories, but the animals select their respective plants first, moving to other plants later. My research has focused on miniature dairy goats on intensively managemed pasture (attempting a zero grain, low hay diet). I live in subtropical Florida, so we have green grass all year round. Though my interest is in goats, the bulk of information available is on cattle, so most of my collected knowledge relates to grass rather than browse (and forbs least of all). My research has shown that, intensively managed, my 0.6-ac backyard with low natural fertility will be sufficient for a herd of between 6 and 8 goats (average weight of each miniture goat is 75-lbs). That being said, the University of Minnesota Extension Service has put out a very in-depth publication on intensively managed grazing called "Grazing Systems Planning Guide", which is available online. Also, the NCAT has good info on sustainable agriculture at www.attra.ncat.org The chance of goats (or sheep) getting infected with worms becomes much greater as they graze close to the ground (minimum grazing height is 2 to 4-in. Do Not Graze Below 2-in or you WILL have worm problems eventually.) The nutrition of the grass is at its peak just before seed head formation. Therefore, a paddock in Bermuda grass that is at least 6-in or up to 10-in high is ready to be grazed. Note, if it is lawn currently (maximum height less than 4 or 6-in), it will have a shallow root system and will not get to the minimum recommended grazing height before wide-spread seed-head formation. Go ahead and graze it with a high stocking rate for short durations to add manure (i.e. natural fertilizer) to it and leave it alone until seed-head formation becomes wide-spread again. Repeated application of manure and sufficient periods of assimilation will strengthen the roots and cause the sward to grow taller giving you more forage. The volume of feed is found by taking the area of each paddock and multiplying it by the difference between the initial height and the final height of the grass. Multiply this by a "weight per inch" of the species of forage, then by an efficiency ratio (the amount of grass actually consumed to the amount available), and finally by an "intake per day" ratio to determine the size of each paddock and the duration your herd can stay on each. The design length of time that the paddock requires to assimilate will dictate the number of paddocks you'll need. A lot of this is best determined by experience rather than numbers, but try to research about your grass as well as you can. When forage quality is low (like in the winter here, which means the late fall and early spring in most other places), you'll be moving the herd through each paddock quickly so as to not deplete and kill your stand. Forage duration can get longer during optimum growth. One more thing: my pastures will be planted in a warm season pernninel grass (such as Bermuda or Bahaia) mixed with a perennial legume (like clover or perennial peanut). That is important. During the winter here, I will overseed with a cool season annual grass (probably ryegrass) and maybe a cool season annual legume if I find that my herd requires it for health and production.
They'll also need a mineral source (like a salt lick) to make up for any deficienies in your soil. And, of course, constant access to clean water is a must for any animal (humans included).
Remeber, ruminants were designed by God to graze, not subsist on a grain-heavy, high input diet. If you want to feed your animals a high energy, low nutrient diet and give them a few hundred feet of "excercise yard", that's what most people do. But if you want healthy animals, especially if you desire a top-quality milk or fiber, then you'll want to invest in the grazing-based approach detailied here.
How many acres of grass does a cow eat per year?
There are too many variables at stake here to be able to fully answer this question. It all depends in the size of the cow, what she is or has been fed, her maintenance and thus lactation and reproductive requirements, the quality of the feed or pasture she is fed or eating, what condition she is in (needs to stay at, lose or gain), and moisture content of the feed.
We can, however, provide an average amount that a cow should consume in an entire year, not counting for the variables expressed above. Let's say we have a 1000 lb cow that eats 2% of her bodyweight in dry matter feed per day. That means she is eating around 20 pounds of dry matter per day. So for an entire year (365 days) that calculates out to 7300 pounds, which means she is expected to consume around 3.3 tons of feed a year on a dry-matter basis. On an as-fed basis, that number could change from anywhere around 4 tons to 12 tons or more. This is because a cow will consume more feed if it is higher moisture and better quality, and will eat more if she's thin and needs to compensate for losses sustained over time, and/or is experience some level of cold stress that is causing her to eat more to meet her energy or nutrient needs. Lactating cows also tend to eat more than dry cows, and pregnant cows will eat more than open (non-pregnant) cows. Finally, some cows are more "feed efficient" than others and despite being in the same lactational or reproductive stage as the other, one may eat less feed to maintain the same condition (or even increase it) than another cow.
A rule of thumb to know is that a cow will not consume the same amount of feed over an entire year. No cow consumes the same amount of feed as another cow, not even on a dry-matter (all water removed) basis.
How long do grass fed beef stay in a feedlot?
Beef cows are put on feed for 3 to 4 months prior to finishing. Most cows may not need to go through the feedlot to be finished because either they are simply too wild or are fat enough to be able to go straight to the slaughter facility. These are female mature bovines who have had a calf we're talking about here, by the way, not "cows" in general or colloquially speaking.
IF, however, we are referring to "cows" as far as colloquialism is concerned, this really depends on the age of the "cow," breed/type, and whether that "cow" has been backgrounded for several months before put on the feedlot or not. Majority of steers and heifers (proper term instead of "cows"), once weaned at around or between 3 to 6 months of age, will go onto a backgrounding operation first before being finished in the feedlot. Backgrounding usually takes around 8 months to a full year before they are heavy enough or at the right condition and frame size to be put on full-feed. Calves that have been weaned much later (such as around 8 to 10 months) will either go through a short phase of backgrounding or go directly to the feedlot to begin finishing. Steers and heifers will spend anywhere from 3 to 8 months in the feedlot to fatten up and be at the right condition and/or frame size to be ready for slaughter.
Can cattle graze after spot treatment with roundup?
No. Try grazing a week or so afterwards. Also read the label on when livestock can be grazed after treatment of this herbicide.
Did spanish ranchers graze cattle or horses on the grasses of the haciendas?
Yes, they also mined for silver and gold when there was still gold.
