Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T00:11:53.671Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of sward surface height on the response to mixed grazing by cattle and sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

I. A. Wright ,
J. R. Jones ,
D. A. Davies ,
G. R. Davidson  and
J. E. Vale
I. A. Wright*
Affiliation:
Macaulay Institute, Macaulay Drive, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK
J. R. Jones
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Bronydd Mawr Research Centre, Trecastle, Brecon, Powys, LD3 8RD, UK
D. A. Davies
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Bronydd Mawr Research Centre, Trecastle, Brecon, Powys, LD3 8RD, UK
G. R. Davidson
Affiliation:
Macaulay Institute, Macaulay Drive, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK
J. E. Vale
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Bronydd Mawr Research Centre, Trecastle, Brecon, Powys, LD3 8RD, UK
*
†E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of mixed grazing of sheep plus cattle under continuous stocking of permanent pasture at different sward heights. The experiment had a 2×3 factorial design, with two sward surface heights (4–5 and 8–10 cm) and three combinations of animal species viz., sheep only, cattle only and sheep plus cattle. There were two replicate plots of each treatment combination and the experiment was conducted over 2 years consecutively. The sheep were Beulah Speckled Face ewes and their single Suffolk-cross lambs while the cattle were yearling Charolais-cross steers. Six ‘core’ steers and six ‘core’ ewes and their lambs grazed plots, as appropriately, while additional, non-experimental steers and ewes and their lambs were used to maintain sward heights. Each year the steers and the ewes grazed the pastures from May to October, while lambs were weaned and removed each year from the experiment in July. There was no significant effect of mixed grazing on live-weight gain of steers, but ewes had significantly higher live-weight gains on the sheep plus cattle treatment than on the sheep-only treatment (82 v. 61 g/day; P<0·001). The live-weight gain of the lambs was higher on the mixed grazing treatment than on the sheep only treatment on the 8–10 cm sward height treatment (243 v. 212 g/day; P<0·05) but there was no significant difference on the 4–5 cm sward height treatment (260 v. 250 g/day; P>0·05). The total output of live-weight gain per ha from steers, ewes and lambs was not significantly affected by animal species combination. It is concluded that while output per ha is not enhanced by mixed grazing by sheep and cattle when sward height is controlled, the live-weight gain of ewes is increased and the live-weight gain of lambs can be increased on taller swards.

Keywords

cattlegrass swardmixed grazingsheep
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , April 2006 , pp. 271 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abaye, A. D., Allen, V. G. and Fonttenot, J. P. 1994. Influence of grazing cattle and sheep together and separately on animal performance and forage quality. Journal of Animal Science 72: 1013–1022.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barthram, G. T., Elston, D. A. and Bolton, C. R. 1986. A comparison of two methods and quadrant mixing for determining the vertical distribution of herbage waste in ryegrass contaminated pastures. Grass and Forage Science 55: 193–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, D., Morley, F. H. W., Clark, K. W. and Dudzinski, M. L. 1970. The effect of grazing cattle and sheep together. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 10: 694–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bircham, J. S. and Hodgson, J. 1983. The influence of sward conditions on rates of herbage growth and senescence in mixed swards under continuous stocking management. Grass and Forage Science 38: 323–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. and Wainman, F. W. 1966. The fasting metabolism of cattle. British Journal of Nutrition 20: 103–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boswell, C. D. and Cranshaw, L. J. 1978. Mixed grazing of cattle and sheep. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 38: 116–120.Google Scholar
Connolly, J. 1987. On difficulties with replacement series methodology in mixture experiments. Journal of Applied Ecology 23: 125–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickson, I. A., Frame, J. and Arnot, D. P. 1981. Mixed grazing of cattle and sheep versus cattle only in an intensive grassland system. Animal Production 33: 265–272.Google Scholar
Farnsworth, K. D., Focardi, S. and Beecham, J. P. 2000. Grassland herbivore interactions: how do grazers co-exist? American Naturalist 159: 24–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibb, M. J. and Ridout, M. S. 1988. Applications of double normal frequency distributions fitted to measurements of sward height. Grass and Forage Science 43: 131–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibb, M. J. and Ridout, M. S. 1986. The fitting of frequency distributions to height measurements on grazed swards. Grass and Forage Science 41: 247–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, I. J. and Illius, A. W. 1988. Incisor arcade structure and diet selection in ruminants. Functional Ecology 2: 15–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunn, R. G. 1983. The influence of nutrition on the reproductive performance of ewes. In Sheep production, 35th Easter school in agricultural science (ed. Haresign, W.), pp. 99–110. University of Nottingham Press.Google Scholar
Hamilton, D. and Bath, J. G. 1970. Performance of sheep and cattle grazed separately and together. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 10: 19–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, M. G. and Guerin, H. 1989. Competitive and complementary effects with different species of herbivore in their utilization of pastures. Proceedings of the XVI international grassland congress, Nice. 1989, pp. 1785–1789.Google Scholar
Lawes Agricultural Trust. 1990. Genstat 5 reference manual. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Levin, S. A. 1970. Community equilibrium and stability and an extension of the competitive exclusion principal. The American Naturalist 104: 413–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNaughton, S. J. 1984. Grazing lawns: animals in herds, plant form, and consolidation. The American Naturalist 124: 863–886.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nolan, T. and Connolly, J. 1977. Mixed stocking of sheep and steers–a review. Herbage Abstracts 47: 367–374.Google Scholar
Nolan, T. and Connolly, J. 1989. Mixed v. mono grazing by steers and sheep. Animal Production 48: 519–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nolan, T. and Connolly, J. 1992. System approach to soilplant-animal interactions. In Natural resource development and utilization (ed. de Jong, R., Nolan, T. and van Bruchem, J.), pp. 12–30. Wageningen.Google Scholar
Owen-Smith, N. and Novellie, P. 1982. What should a clever ungulate eat? American Naturalist 119: 151–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, A. J., Leaffe, E. L., Collet, B. and Stiles, W. 1983. The philosophy of grass production under grazing. Journal of Applied Ecology 20: 127–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penning, P. D., Rook, A. J. and Orr, R. J. 1991. Patterns of digestive behaviour of sheep continuously stocked on monocultures of rye grass or white clover. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 31: 237–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poppi, D. P., Minson, D. J. and Ternouth, J. H. 1980. Studies of cattle with sheep eating leaf and stem fractions of grasses. The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time in the reticels-rumen. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32: 99–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ronnel, F., Nolan, T. and Connolly, J. 1980. Some effects of mixed grazing on pasture growth and chemical composition. In Proceedings of workshop on mixed grazing, Galway 1980 (ed. Nolan, T. and Connolly, J.), pp. 127–139. An Foras Taluntais.Google Scholar
Russel, A. J. F., Doney, J. M. and Gunn, R. G. 1969. Subjective assessment of body fat in live sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 72: 451–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, D. J. 1984. The nutritive value of white clover. In Forage legumeso, ccasional symposium no. 16 (ed. Thomson, D. J.), pp. 78–92. British Grassland Society.Google Scholar
Van Keuren, R. W. 1970. Symposium on pasture methods for maximum production in beef cattle: pasture methods for maximizing beef cattle production in Ohio. Journal of Animal Science 30: 138–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vance, R. R. 1984. Interference competition and the co-existence of two competitors on a single limiting resource. Ecology 65: 1349–1357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volterra, V. 1928. Variations and fluctuations of the number of individuals in animal species living together. Journal du Conseil. Conseil Permanent International pour l'Exploration de la Mer 3: 3–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, I. A. 1988. Suckler beef production. In Efficient beef production from grass, occasional symposium no. 22 (ed. Frame, J.), pp. 51–64. British Grassland Society.Google Scholar
Wright, I. A., Jones, J. R. and Parsons, A. J. 2000. Effects of grazing by sheep or cattle on sward structure and subsequent performance of weaned lambs. Grass and Forage Science 56: 138–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, I. A., Russel, A. J. F. and Hunter, E. A. 1986. The effect of winter food levels on compensating growth of weaned, suckled calves grazed at two small heights. Animal Production 43: 211–227.Google Scholar
Wright, I. A. and Whyte, T. K. 1989. Effects of sward heights on the performance of continuously stocked spring-calving beef cows and their calves. Grass and Forage Science 44: 259–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar