Predicting Forage Intake by Grazing Beef Cows

The control of feed intake by ruminants is complex, and developing a cohesive theory of intake control in ruminants continues to be a challenge. Because our understanding of factors that regulate intake by cattle is inadequate, predicting feed intake, even under the best of circumstances, is difficult. In grazing cattle, this difficulty is exacerbated by additional influences that can sway basic control mechanisms, including selective grazing, herbage mass, sward structure and composition, climatic and environmental factors, and the intricacies of the grazing process itself.