In a grazing trial on open granite sandveld near Bulawayo, Rhodesia, three periods of stay in a paddock, namely, 5, 10 and 20 days, are being used in all combinations with 4 and 8 paddock units to give a range of grazing procedures. Each procedure is being tested at two stocking rates. Steer livemass gains for the first two years are presented. During the growing season 20?day periods of stay gave lower gains than 5?day and 10?day periods of stay, and 8 paddock procedures gave lower gains than 4 paddock procedures. In general, gains per steer were lower at the high stocking rate than at the low stocking rate but where glazing procedure involved 5? and 10?day periods of stay in 4 paddock units, the position was reversed During the dry season, stocking rate was the only treatment to affect animal performance. The low stocking rate resulted in better performance than the high stocking rate.
Journal articles from the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA) African Journal of Range and Forage Science as well as related articles and reports from throughout the southern African region.