In a pasture experiment started early in 1967 on the Nortier Experimental Farm, a 4?camp grazing system with an overall stocking rate of 4,3 ha/small stock unit (SSU) per year and a stocking density of approximately 1 SSU/ha is being compared with a 27?camp system with an overall stocking rate of 4,4 ha/SSU per year and a stocking density of approximately 6 SSU/ha. Both sheep and cattle are being used in the experiment.
Under both systems the vegetation cover and “edible?species composition†of the veld deteriorated significantly. Similarly, the sheep and cattle lost weight. In the 4?camp system it was possible to leave all the animals in the camps, throughout the drought, without any danger of losses. In the 27?camp system, however, the animals had to be removed from the experimental camps and fed during 1969.
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.