Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Comparison of heifer weight gains and forage quality for continuous and short-duration grazing systems
Author
Jung, H. G., R. W. Rice, L. J. Koong
Publication Year
1969
Body

Jung et al. compared the effects of continuous grazing and short-duration grazing, at increased stocking rates, on animal gains, and forage quality and production in smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis) pastures. In the first year of this study, continuous and short-duration grazed pastures were stocked at the same rate, resulting in similar animal gains and forage quality between pastures, but greater available forage was in rotationally grazed pastures. In the second year of the study, the stocking rate was increased on rotationally grazed pastures to utilize the increased forage production, resulting in a tendency for available forage and animal gains to be similar in both systems but forage crude protein to be slightly higher in the short-duration grazed pastures. These results suggest that stocking rates can be increased on the short-duration grazed pastures without a decline in available forage or animal gains, however, short-duration grazing did not enhance the overall quality of the forage indicating that the rest period between grazing cycles was too long and allowed forage to mature.

Language
en
Keywords
continuous grazing
Bromus inermis
Forage Maturity
forage production
rest period
short-duration grazing
smooth bromegrass
stocking rates
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