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The design and interpretation of experiments to study animal production from grazed pasture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. B. Owen
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, University of Cambridge
W. J. Ridgman
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, University of Cambridge

Summary

Experiments designed to assess differences between treatments in pasture productivity as measured by the production of animals are complicated by the stocking rates chosen. The paper attempts toderive a simple model relating production per animal and production per unit area to stocking rate for meat animals, based on biological considerations.

A method is proposed which would allow meaningful grazing experiments to be carried out employing only one stocking rate, thus considerably reducing the expense of this type of experimentation.

The model is applied to some recent data obtained by Hodgson (1966) and Appleton (1967, personal communication).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1968

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References

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