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Spring Grazing Management And Climate Variability The Case Of Dairy Farms In The Jura Massif, Anne Mathieu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grazing managers have to achieve a balance between rela­tively stable herd requirements, and a variable herbage resource. The growth rate of herbage depends on climatic factors and is therefore variable between seasons and, at the same date, between years.

We cannot predict climate for more than a few days; conse­quently, the manager can only approximately anticipate the utilization of grasslands, and have to forecast regulation mech­anisms to adjust to climatic variability. Some technical solutions are recommended especially for plain areas - Silage reduces, or cancels, variability of mowing date. Therefore, it reduces the bracket of dates of extending surfaces possibilities …

Farm Equipment: Method Of Reasoning, P Viaux, J P. Gillet

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There are two main ways of approaching the study of mech­anisation in agriculture :

- by studying particularly the financial expenses, and the solutions that may reduce them. These were made by the« Cen­tres de Gestion » (farm management centers) and the C.U.M.A. (Cooperatives for the use of agricultural equip­ment).

- by studying the needs for equipment, as related to the organ­isation of the work (J.M. Attonaty et al., 1987).

The following study aims to propose an approach that takes into consideration not only the costs of mechanisation, but also the consequences of work done outside the best periods, on …

La Traite Au Paturage: Une Solution D'Actualite Pour Exploiter Par Paturage Des Prairies D'Acces Difficile, M Benoit

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

L'histoire de la mecanisation de la traite au paturage remonte au debut de ce siecle (Hall, 1977). Des 1922, un Australien met au point une veritable salle de traite mobile en perfectionnant le systeme VACCAR (Hosier, 1927). La traite au paturage est signalee dans la bibliographie dans les pays suivants: Belgique, Pays-Bas, Suisse, Italie, Allema­gne, Pologne, Japon et France. En France les regions citees sont : la Haute et Basse Normandie, la Franche-Comte, le Cen­tre, en montagne ou se pratique l'estive : Savoie et Haute­Savoie et en Lorraine (Pasquier, 1984). Notre etude porte sur cette derniere region. En Lorraine, l'hypothese …

Approche Du Fonctionnement D'Exploitations Mixtes D'Herbivores Proposition Methodologique Et Exemples D'Associations, J Nocquet, M Roux

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

En France, l'association d'especes animales (bovine-ovine ou caprine) dans une meme exploitation n'est pas rare. De plus, recemment, le contingentement de la production laitiere et les difficultes du marche de la viande ont montre l'interet de syste­mes de production associant deux especes d'herbivores. Dans le cadre d'une reflexion sur le developpement de ces ele­vages, en vue d'une meilleure efficacite des methodes d'appui technique jugees trop sectorielles, un certain nombre d'etudes globales ont ete menees depuis une dizaine d'annees dans les regions Bourgogne, Lorraine et Rhone-Alpes. Les objectifs retenus etaient d'une part une meilleure connaissance de ces elevages et des mecanismes …

Plant-Animal Associations In The Cereal Semi-Arid Zones Of Morocco, M Derkaoui

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Relationships existing between cropping systems and live­stock production provide the basis for technical and socio­economic decisions in agricultural enterprises. Primov et al. (1987) reported that livestock was an integral part of crop pro­duction strategies in Abda plains of Morocco. A nation wide survey indicated that grain cereals and livestock production contributed equally to total agriculture output and 41.2 % of energy required by animals came from cereal grain and by­products; bran, straw, and stubble (Amine and Rami, 1986). Characterization of production systems for both crops and livestock and their associations was the objective of this study.

The Use Of Models Of Sheep And Cattle Production Systems To Aid On-Farm Decision Making In Southern Australia, D H. White, K M. Weber

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The management of grazing sheep and cattle in south-eastern Australia is confounded by the diversity between years in the annual pattern of pasture growth. Currently, the way in which a farm manager budgets or apportions pasture to the grazing animals is markedly influenced by personal experience of pre­vious patterns of both pasture growth and animal response. This influence is usually heavily biased towards those enviromental conditions most recently experienced by the man­ager. The many deficiencies in this style of managing grazing systems have motivated scientists to investigate ways of supplementing this subjective « mental model » with a more quantitative …

An Evaluation Of Fixed Versus Variable Rotational Grazing Under Weather Uncertainty Using Simulation, L D. Parsch, W M. Watts, O J. Loewer

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Three characteristics which identify a rotational grazing sys­tem and which distinguish one rotation from another are (a) the number of paddocks or cells into which the entire pasture area is divided, (b) the scheduled grazing period or amount of time the livestock will graze on a paddock before being moved, and (c) whether the rotation is fixed or variable. With a fixed rotation, the scheduled grazing period per paddock movement is strictly adhered to whereas with a variable rotation, paddock-to-paddock movement deviates from the scheduled sequence according to some specified criterion such as minimum herbage availability. The distinction between a …

Efficiency Measurement Of Pasture Use On Dairy Farms, G J. Piggot, D G. Clayton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Dairy farmers in northern regions of New Zealand look to Ruakura Research Station to provide them with technical information on farm production. Ruakura farms are outstand­ing examples of fully pasturefed dairy technology. In regions distant from the research station, such as Northland, parochial attitudes inhibit the complete extension of research station results. The project described here aimed to examine the current management practices on typical dairy farms in North­land. By identifying differences between Northland farms and Ruakura research farms, corrective management strategies could be recommended in order to increase dairy farm efficiency in the region.

Forage Legumes As A Component Of Smallholder Rice Farming Systems - A Case Study, U R. Sangakkara

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The smallholder rice farmers of southern Asia can be classi­fied as ones having small extents of cropping land, where ruminants are kept to provide farm power (Ranjhan, 1985). The majority of these farmers have 2-3 heads of cat­tle/buffaloes. The greatest demand of ruminant fodder in the developing countries of Asia is seen to be in the smallholder cropping sec­tor (Remenyi and Mc William, 1985), primarily due to the high concentration of animals and reduced land availability for fod­der production. Thus, studies (e.g. Gutteridge, 1983) show the feasibility of using fallow periods in rice culture for fodder pro­duction. As similar studies …

Dairy Farming System On The West Slope Area Of Mt. Fuji With Reference To Pasture Utilization, S Mukaiyama, S Kawanabe

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

At the 15th International Grassland Congress held in 1985, the author presented a paper on the production and utilization of pasture and forage crops and land development programs currently in effect on the west slope of Mt. Fuji. Import of large amounts of concentrate and roughages from foreign countries was pointed out as a major problem. In the present study, farming was surveyed and analyzed to determine how dairy farming should best be conducted in the future. Particular attention is directed to pasture productivity and feed self-supply expressed in terms of UTDN for the con­duct of farm business.

Recent Development In Japanese Grassland Farming Technologies, S Kawanabe

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Agriculture in Japan has generally consisted in paddy-based small - scale farming. Japan has not had a tradition of large­scale grassland farming as have European countries and others. Nevertheless, grassland farming was introduced after World War 2 (Nikki, 1981). Generous technical assistance from FAO had been given to the Japanese government during 1955-1963. Hence, an almost stable forage system was established by 1985, although some problems still remained to be solved. The devel­opment of technology over the last 30 years has been amply studied in the literature. A comparison of this with that of Asian countries was made

Summerpack*, A Computer Package For Sheep And Pasture Management Over The Summer/Autumn Period In A Mediterranean Environment, J.P G. Orsini

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The south-western part of Western Australia has a Mediterranean type climate characterized by a dry summer/autumn period that can extend over more than six months. The quantity and the quality of the dry pastures progressivily deteriorate from senescence until the break of season when germination occurs. Although dry adult sheep usually maintain weight in the first two months, weight losses can be high in autumn unless supplements are fed. It is important for farmers at the beginning of summer to obtain an estimate of the amount of supplements they need to purchase or keep in storage and what would be …

Grassland Farming Systems In South China, S R. Zhou

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

South China lies between 15° and 30° northern latitude and 100° -125° eastern longitude in the subtropical zone. It is the chief grain or economic crops growing area of China. Most farmers are not accustomed to forage crop cultivation. Animal husbandry is limited owing to fodder problems. Since 1972-1974 and 1981-1987, the research works on grassland farming systems have been carried out in order to develop a suitable grassland agriculture in South China.

Tagsaste (Chamaecytisus Palmensis), An Evergreen Fodder Tree, In Grazing Systems Of Mediterranean Type Climates: 3. An Economic Analysis, B C. Mattinson, C M. Oldham

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

agasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis) was planted in a 60 ha experimental plantation on a merino sheep farm in south-west­ern Australia (see Oldham et al., 1989). From this experimental planting of tagasaste and a subsequent 1000 ha commercial planting, data on the cost and timing of both establishment and management has been collected. Production information using realized grazing by merino sheep has been collected for both the juvenile and adult tagasaste plantations. With both the costs and production information the question addressed in this paper is the value to a merino farmer of establishing taga­saste. Farms in south-western Australian agricultural …

Rapid Rural Appraisal For The Identification Of Grassland Research Problems, P R. Ampt, R L. Ison

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands are but one subsystem of farming systems, the purpose(s) and measures of performance of which are predomi­nantly social and economic (Pearson and Ison, 1987). The adop­tion of a systems view of the role of grasslands in farming systems necessitates a review of the way in which grassland problems for research are identified. This paper describes the use and evalu­ation of rapid rural appraisal (RRA), a problem identification methodology, for identification of agronomic problems for research in the Forbes Shire, New South Wales, Australia. RRA methodologies have evolved from work in lesser developed countries (LDC's) but there are indications that …

Lamb Production From Rainfed Meadows Based On Alfalfa As Cereal Alternative In Central Spain, T Gonzalez, J Alegre

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Previous work (Gonzalez and Alegre, 1988) showed that rainfed- meadows based on lucerne could be a feasible alterna­tive to cereal in the Central area of Spain, as their potentiality was interesting. On the other hand, the lamb finishing out to pasture has problems due to its low growth rate (Gibb et al., 1981), and they are more accentuated for twins or when the offer of pas­ture is low. Therefore, the aim of this work has been to obtain infor­mation about the rainfed meadows potential based on lucerne for lamb meat - production as it may be an alternative to cereal …

Comparison Of Meat Performance Of Lambs Kept On Pastures And Intensively Fed On Pastures As Well As In Fattening Units, S Kukovics, T Schuszter, Cs Lanyi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Hungary is an exporting country in lambs which go for export either live or slaughtered. The majority of lambs are intensively fattened before slaughter or before live export. In the fattening pens (group fatting), a mixture of pelleted feed is offered ad libitum, but, in many cases, hay and/or straw are also fed. This feeding technology involves significant costs ; therefore, the testing of various fattening methods have been aimed at. Besides, we wished to study the fattening performance of imported Corriedale and Romney sheep, by using New-Zeal­and as well as Hungarian methods.

Comportement Alimentaire De La Brebis Merinos D'Arles Au Paturage Sur Prairie Irriguee De Crau, P Lapeyronie, G Bechet, G Molenat, M Vincent

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

La prairie de Crau se caracterise par un contexte climatique mediterraneen, un mode d'irrigation par submersion et des fac­teurs pedologiques particuliers. Destinee principalement a la production de foin, la prairie de Crau n'est generalement paturee qu'a l'automne. Les evolutions, tant dans la conjoncture de l'elevage que dans celle des productions fourrageres, conduisent aujourd'hui a envisager d'accroitre !'utilisation par le paturage, notamment au printemps. Ce sont differents aspects comportementaux de la brebis, importants a prendre en compte pour la gestion de l'herbe, dont nous presentons ici l'etude.

Comportement Alimentaire De Cerfs Rusa En Croissance Recevant Une Tation A Base De Graminee (Brachiaria Mutica), P Grimaud, P Chardonnet

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

L'elevage commercial du cerf rusa en Nouvelle-Caledonie a commence en 1987. Les connaissances zootechniques sur cette espece sont encore sommaires a ce jour et !'experience menee vise a etudier Jes preferences alimentaires, la consommation et la croissance de cerfs recevant a volonte trois aliments de valeur nutritive moyenne a bonne.

Study Of A Strategy To Intensify Sheep Production Systems With Merino Ewes Grazing Mediterranean Natural Pastures, B H. Manterola, A L. Sirhan, A Dina Cerda

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In chilean arid and semiarid mediterranean ranges with a rainfall of 250 to 600 mm mainly during fall and winter and with a drought period of six to seven months per year natural pasture develops being the main forage source for sheep pro­duction. Productivity level is based on a 70-75 lambing percent­age and 0.8-0.9 lambs/ewe/year, equivalent to 25-30 kg/ha/yr (at a stocking rate of 1 ewe/ha/yr). The first objective of this research was to quantify the reproductive and productive potential of Precocius Merino ewes, under intensive system with mating every eight months. The second objective was to study the performance …

The Potential Role Of Temperate Pastures For The Production Of Fat Lambs In The Sub Tropics, N M. Tainton, D I. Bransby, M B. Hardy, T M. Du Plessis

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the sub-humi\i (700-1000 mm rainfall p.a.) sub-tropical regions of Southern Africa, fat lambs have traditionally been produced as a by-product of extensive merino based wool pro­duction systems. Natural grassland (veld) or summer growing sub-tropical pastures have formed the basis of the forage sys­tem, with dryland winter cereals and root crops often used to supplement the diet. To improve the level of production, a more reliable source of high quality forage needs to be provided to the lactating ewes and to the lambs from birth to slaughter. This need has led to the investigation of possible intensive fat lamb systems …

Comportement Du Lama Seul Ou En Association Avec Des Brebis Sur Prairies Irriguees Ou Parcours De Crau, V Segretain, P Lapeyronie, G Molenat, P Bosc

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

L'existence de projets d'introduction de camelides du genre Lama en zone mediterraneenne fran9aise dans le but de diversi­fier les productions des exploitations d'elevage, d'une part, et la mise en place d'un programme de Recherches sur l'alimentation des camelides, d'autre part, nous ont conduits a entreprendre une etude sur le comportement du lama au paturage. Nos observations ont porte sur les rythmes d'activite alimen­taire et sur Jes relations inter-individuelles d'animaux de l'espece Lama : lamas paturant seuls ou en melange avec des brebis. Les observations sur lamas seuls ont eu lieu sur prairie irriguee a vegetation dense et sur parcours de …

Animal Production Evaluation Of New Herbage Varieties, J.M M. Munro, D A. Davies

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Although it is now universally accepted that animal perform­ance is the ultimate test of any grassland innovation, few herb­age varieties have been evaluated in terms of meat, milk or fibre production. Over the last decade, however, several large grazing trials with beef cattle or sheep have been carried out at Aberystwyth (Munro and Walters, 1986). These have mainly involved prom­ising new Station ryegrass varieties (Lolium spp.) which have completed preliminary screening for yield, persistence and feed quality. In the first trial, comparing two perennial ryegrass (L. perenne) and two cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata) varieties, steers on Mascot ryegrass …

Forward Rotational Grazing On Digitaria Decumbens Pasture With Weaned Female Creole Goats In Guadeloupe, G Alexandre, H Baudot, P Cruz, S Prache

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Tropical herbage production regulation, obtained through fertilisation and irrigation, doesn't solve the problem of the low nutritive value and the low level of voluntary intake of this herbage. These problems are particulary important with young growing animals regarding to their low ingestive capacity and their high growth requirements. Different pasture management systems have been tested in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) in order to propose a better utilization of tropical pastures.

The Use Of Fertilizer Nitrogen And Increased Animals Production From New Zealand Hill Pastures, D A. Clark, M G. Lambert

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In New Zealand hill pastures, winter and early spring growth is often less than the maintenance of breeding ewes. In late spring and summer, pasture growth often exceeds requirements leading to pasture quality problems. It is usually uneconomic to overcome these problems by conservation, supplementary feeding or adjustement of animal numbers. An increased herb­age accumulation in late winter as a result of fertiliser N appli­cation, should increase post-lambing ewe liveweights and hence lamb growth rates ; increase ewe mating weights and hence improve flock prolificacy with consequent improvements in the utilisation of summer pasture. Two experiments examined the effect of …

The Performance Of Sucking Lambs Grazing Unfertilized An Fertilized Natural Pasture And Rangeland Under Subarctic Conditions, Olafur Gudmundsson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Under subartic conditions natural pastures and rangelands are not very productive and are often vulnerable to erosion when overgrazed. The grazing season is also very short, often only four to five months, during which time the lambs have to reach slaughter weight. It is therefore critical to increase car­rying capacity and production of the land. Several studies have tested fertilizer use to increase plant pro­duction under these condition (e.g., Thorsteinsson and Sigurbjornsson, 1961 ; Arnalds 1974; Arnalds et al. 1980). However, while these studies have shown a manifold increase in forage production and a shift in plant composition to a …

Effect Of Sward Of Perennial Rye-Grass And Red Fescue Type On Gains And Behavior Of Grazing Yearlings, M Rogalski, Z Karzoun

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The output of sheep fed on pasture depends on a number of qualitative and quantitative factors of the sward (Arnold, 1981, Rogalski and Karzoun, 1988). These factors have a decisive influence on the behaviour of animals and the amount of herb­age consumed by them and, consequently, on the formation of interrelations between the sward and grazing animals (Rogal­ski, 1978). The knowledge of these factors is very important if sheep are to be kept in the pasturing systems. Experiments presented in this paper were carried out to determine some of the interdependances and to compare the effect of botanical composition of …

Integration Des Prairies A Legumineuses Annuelles Dans Le Systeme Fourrager D'Une Exploitation Ovin-Viande Intesive En Zone Mediterraneenne Francaise, J J. Rochon, J P. Goby, M Nicot, G Gintzburger

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Le systeme de production ovin-viande de la Plaine du Rous­sillon repose sur la production en hiver d'agneaux de bergerie, abattus non sevres a un poids vif de 26-28 kg, a un age de 70- 80 jours. Les besoins alimentaires des brebis, essentiellement couverts par le paturage de prairies naturelles non irrigables, sont !es plus importants a une periode ou !es ressources patura­bles sont !es plus faibles et de qualite mediocre (IUT, 1985). La recherche de techniques de production performantes pour ameliorer !es resultats economiques des troupeaux passe en partie par une augmentation qualitative et quantitative des pro­ductions fourrageres. Certaines prairies …

Effets De La Duree De Presence Au Paturage Sur Le Comportement Alimentaire D'Ovins En Crau, S Houessou, M Prudhon, P Bosc, G Bechet, G Molenat

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

En elevage ovin, ii existe de nombreuses situations dans les­quelles !es brebis passent la nuit en bergerie et ne sortent que 8 heures par jour au paturage, avec ou sans gardiennage. Est-ce suffisant pour satisfaire !es besoins des brebis ? L' o bjet de cette etude est de determiner dans quelle mesure cette pratique modi­fie le comportement alimentaire et le niveau d'ingestion des bre­bis par rapport a des animaux en liberte pouvant regler eux­memes leurs moments d'ingestion.

A Comparison Of Rotation And Continuous-Seasonal Grazing Systems, Zutong Zhang, Zhixin Xu, Guodong Han

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A proper grazing system is the effective measure to put pas­ture resources to rational use. Many scholars had compared rotation grazing to continuous grazing. Some results were shown that rotation grazing can bring more herbage pro­duction and liveweight gain than the continuous grazing (Allan, 1985), but others were shown that there was no signifi­cant difference between rotation and continuous grazing, even the continuous grazing was better than the rotation grazing (Jerry et al, 1987). In the recent years, many scholars had compared the rotation to the continuous grazing in all round way, especially in grassland vegetation and soil characteristics (Heitschmidt …