Pasture Management Techniques

Environmental Issues Change of pasture or rangeland ecosystem is an inevitable consequence of grazing. The grazing management is the manipulation of these changes through the control of the intensity and timing of grazing. | Environmental Issues Objectives Techniques Costs Targeted Livestock Systems Impacts Monitoring: EIA, Indicators References

Objectives

The objective is to reach a plant composition of pastures which gives the maximum of animal production in the short term and the more sustainable in the long term.

Techniques

Various factors are dependent of the farmer’s decision and can be modified to pilot the vegetation change. They are:

- The grazing pressure (number of animals). It results of the stocking rate (number of animals per hectare) and of the stocking intensity (current number of animals per hectare of paddock or land area). The choice of stocking rate and stocking intensity have a profound effect on both the immediate and long term animal productivity of the range. The long term effects of grazing pressure concern the composition of the natural pasture community. Such long term changes arise from the ecological interaction of the plant community and animal population.

- The grazing system (distribution of animals). Under continuous grazing, the stock are distributed evenly over the available pasture area. In the rotational grazing system, the stock are grazed in one paddock at a time and moved between paddocks. Such system involves specific plan for timing and distribution of grazing.

- Under continuous grazing, the grazing pressure on any one area is low. Such condition allows greatest selection for the most nutritious plants. But part of the useful species decline and some types of pasture vegetation are not resilient under this system.

- Under rotational system, in many situations, the pasture stability is maintained. The advantage of this system arises where there is an improvement in the density or composition of desirable plants.

- In African rangeland, spontaneous rotation of grazing and browsing has developed : natural rotations are imposed by the shortage of surface water. Wet season and dry season grazing areas develop as separate entities.

The choice of herbivores (species or types of animals). Grazing different herbivores or mixture of herbivores can be used to achieve desirable vegetation characteristics by exploiting differences in grazing behaviour. The various activities of pasture maintainance, such as controlled burning, slashing, oversowing, pasture rehabilitation, fertilisation, are combined with the pasture management techniques to manipulate the plant community composition (see these technologies). |

Costs
In common areas of pasture and range, the pasture management as the control of stocking rate or the choice of herbivores can only be discussed and decided at the level of the community. The cost refers to the farmer organization.

- In private property, the farmer is able to control the stocking rate, the choice or mixture of animal species and the grazing system. According to the level of intensification, he uses fences to define paddocks and organizes the plan of rotations. The costs include the pasture infrastructure and the workers for herding and herd managing.

Targeted Livestock Systems

Mainly grazing systems, also mixed farming systems.

Grazing Systems

LGA | LGS1 | LGS2 | LGS3 | LGH1 | LGH2 | LGH3 | LGT1 | LGT2 | LGT3
Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y

Mixed Systems

MCG | MCR | MCC | MFF | MEF
Y | Y | N | N | N

Industrial Systems

IFP | IPL | IPG | IRM | IDU | ISL | ITN | IMP
N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N

Impact

- Positive environmental impact

- Improved use of available pasture resources
- Long term manipulation of the plant communities
- Control of grazing pressure
- Part of pasture rehabilitation

- Negative environmental impact

- Degradation of vegetation in case of misuse of management technics
- Overgrazing in case of insufficient destocking in years of above average rainfall
- Weed invasion

Monitoring: EIA, indicators

- Analysis of change in vegetation
- Measurement of vegetation
- Soil surface change

References

Harrington, N.G., Wilson A.D., and Young, M.D. 1984. Management of Australia’s Rangelands. Melbourne, CSIRO, pp. 384.

Pratt, D.J., Gwynne M.D. 1977. Rangeland Management and Ecology in East Africa. Hodder & Stoughton, pp. 310.

Boudet, G. 1991. Pâturages tropicaux et cultures fourragères. La documentation française, pp. 266.

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