Pasture tracks are a recent trend in equine management. Tracks are a way to increase movement by theoretically mimicking patterns of wild horses, though this has not been proven. To test movement ...patterns of horses housed in pasture tracks as compared with conventional pastures, a track (3.5m in width) was created around the perimeter of a rectangular 2.0 ha pasture with feeding troughs placed roughly equidistant around the track. Eight horses were paired and rotated between 3 treatment locations: the track (T), the small 2 ha pasture housed within the track (SP), and a larger 12 ha pasture on the same farm (LP). Movement was tracked using a GPS watch (Amazfit Bip U by Zepp Health) attached to the crown of a halter. Testing occurred over a 10-week period in which horses were randomly rotated in pairs to each location with testing in each location occurring simultaneously. Horses were acclimated to each location for 3 d and then tested over a 4-d period during which one horse in each pair would wear the GPS monitor for 2 d followed by the second horse. At the conclusion of the 10-week study, 4 horses on 2 additional farms with existing track systems were monitored for a one-week period to compare their movement patterns to those collected in the test location as controls. Environmental impact of the pasture tracksystem was evaluated by comparing erosion measurements of the track to the small pasture. Erosion was evaluated via quantification of vegetative cover (as measured by standing biomass) and sediment relocation (as measured using an adapted mesh-bag technique). Data was collected on days −7, 14, 33, 67, and 86 of horses being placed on the track. GPS data was analyzed using Minitab v.21 (State College, PA, USA) with housing as a treatment effect. Erosion measurements were run as a repeated-measures over time with location as the treatment effect. Results indicate no differences in daily distance traveled between T and SP (5.7 vs 5.4 km, P = 0.60) or between T and LP (5.7 vs 6.2 km, P = 0.36). Though not comparable, horses on the private farm tracks walked a similar daily distance of 6.1 ± 0.2 km/d avg. There was a decrease in vegetative cover on the track (P < 0.001) from beginning to end of the study, which resulted in sediment relocation (P = 0.013). Collectively, this data does not support the use of pasture tracks as a beneficial management practice to increase movement, and potential environmental impacts of the use of tracks should be considered.
Background
The ability to finish livestock on pasture over the summer–autumn period could improve the profitability of red meat enterprises in drought‐prone temperate regions. In south‐eastern ...Australia, traditional perennial options are limited by poor warm‐season performance (phalaris, Phalaris aquatica L.) and widespread environmental constraints (lucerne, Medicago sativa L.). We aimed to identify perennial species suitable for summer–autumn finishing.
Methods
We tested pure swards of summer‐active perennial grasses and herbs (20 cultivars across 14 species) in replicated small‐plot experiments at two sites on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. We assessed early persistence, productivity and warm‐season nutritive characteristics over 2–3 years.
Results
Lucerne and chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) persisted well through drought and produced herbage of high quantity and quality through summer–autumn. Digit grass (Digitaria eriantha Steud.) was highly persistent and productive but nutritive values were generally poor. Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), prairie grass (Bromus willdenowii Kunth.) and plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) were productive but less persistent through drought, while nutritive values were sometimes inadequate.
Conclusions
Chicory is a good alternative to lucerne, given its excellent summer–autumn performance, ability to survive droughts and superior acid soil tolerance. If appropriate management resolves issues with persistence and nutritive value, several of the other species could also be used to close the warm‐season feed gap in drought‐prone temperate environments.
Pasture quality and quantity limit summer–autumn livestock production in drought‐prone temperate environments. We evaluated summer‐active perennial grasses and herbs over the warm season in south‐eastern Australia. Lucerne and chicory consistently showed high persistence, productivity and nutritive value. Digit grass, cocksfoot, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, prairie grass and plantain also showed potential.
This paper reports the first record of Caliothrips phaseoli Hood, 1912 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) causing damage to forage grasses of the species Panicum maximum in the pasture formation phase. Due to ...the damage observed, it is assumed that the occurrence of these insects at the beginning of the grass implementation phase can, in large infestations, reduce the photosynthetic area of the plants, delaying their growth and consequently the formation of the pasture.
Despite the large contribution of rangeland and pasture to global soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, there is considerable uncertainty about the impact of large herbivore grazing on SOC, especially ...for understudied subtropical grazing lands. It is well known that root system inputs are the source of most grassland SOC, but the impact of grazing on partitioning of carbon allocation to root tissue production compared to fine root exudation is unclear. Given that different forms of root C have differing implications for SOC synthesis and decomposition, this represents a significant gap in knowledge. Root exudates should contribute to SOC primarily after microbial assimilation, and thus promote microbial contributions to SOC based on stabilization of microbial necromass, whereas root litter deposition contributes directly as plant‐derived SOC following microbial decomposition. Here, we used in situ isotope pulse‐chase methodology paired with plant and soil sampling to link plant carbon allocation patterns with SOC pools in replicated long‐term grazing exclosures in subtropical pasture in Florida, USA. We quantified allocation of carbon to root tissue and measured root exudation across grazed and ungrazed plots and quantified lignin phenols to assess the relative contribution of microbial vs. plant products to total SOC. We found that grazing exclusion was associated with dramatically less overall belowground allocation, with lower root biomass, fine root exudates, and microbial biomass. Concurrently, grazed pasture contained greater total SOC, and a larger fraction of SOC that originated from plant tissue deposition, suggesting that higher root litter deposition under grazing promotes greater SOC. We conclude that grazing effects on SOC depend on root system biomass, a pattern that may generalize to other C4‐dominated grasslands, especially in the subtropics. Improved understanding of ecological factors underlying root system biomass may be the key to forecasting SOC and optimizing grazing management to enhance SOC accumulation.
Long‐term grazing exclusion dramatically shifts plant carbon allocation priorities in subtropical pasture, reducing root biomass, fine root exudates, microbial biomass, and soil carbon. Additionally, analysis of lignin phenols extracted from soil suggests that variations in soil carbon are very closely coupled to plant tissue deposition. Overall, our results support that grazing can have profound impact on soil carbon, independent of shifts in plant species composition, through effects on fine root biomass, proliferation, and exudation.
The article considers the issues of geobotanical survey of the “Baytak-Ravat-Jakub» pasture spot of Batken city applying geoinformational technologies. A geobotanical survey of pastures is a survey ...conducted to determine the productivity of pastures, the botanical composition of herbage, the quality of herbaceous vegetation, its habitats, and the possibility of using pastures for grazing various types of farm animals. Traditional field method and the method of geoinformational mapping is applied for the geobotanical survey of pastures which is capable for storing and processing pasture monitoring data. As a result of monitoring pastures using geoinformational technologies, the cartographic material is created with the boundaries of pasture contours and the yield. The regional pasture committees determine geobotanical composition and assessment of the condition of pastures, organizing the rational utilization of pastures and their protection. The research materials will be may can be recommended for use.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the relative effects of stocker-phase implant strategies on growth and carcass characteristics of beef steers. In each of 2 locations (OK and ...MS), steers were grazed on cool-season annual pastures in fall 2018 through spring 2019. Steers (n = 300 in MS, n = 240 in OK) were randomly assigned to one of three implant treatments, 1) a single Synovex® One Grass implant at d 0, 2) a single Component® TE-G with Tylan implant at d 0, or 3) a reimplant treatment receiving Component® TE-G with Tylan at d 0 and again at d 82 (OK) or 85 (MS). Steers from each treatment were commingled in 2 (OK) or 3 (MS) pastures for 159 (OK) or 161 d (MS). Following grazing, steers were shipped to a commercial feedyard for finishing, sorted into 3 pens based on BW with each treatment equally represented in each pen, and were managed according to that site’s BMPs. Steers from all treatments were implanted identically in the feedyard. Steers were slaughtered when the pen was visually estimated to be at 1 cm backfat. Carcass data of individuals were collected by camera grading equipment in the packing plant. Data were analyzed as a completely random design with animal as the experimental unit, treatment as a fixed effect, and pasture within location as a random effect. Marbling score tended to be greater in the single Component® TE-G with Tylan (treatment 2) vs. the other 2 treatments (425 vs 408 and 410, P = 0.07). No other production variables, including stocker-phase ADG, approached a significant difference (P > 0.39). No evidence was found to recommend stocker-phase reimplanting even in relatively long stocker phases with high ADG, and producers should consider selecting the most cost-effective implant at grazing initiation.
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