Successful pasture-based milk production systems pivot on balancing dairy cows’ feed requirements with seasonal and annual fluctuations in pasture production. In order to maximise cow production from grazing dairy systems, it is necessary to reach an efficient utilization of grazed grass for feeding cows and the development of appropriate grazing management systems designed to maximize daily pa...

Winter is a very important period during the dairying calendar. Regions such as Southland, with susceptible soils and extended periods with soils at saturation levels will face increasing pressure to review wintering practices. On-farm options for wintering cows to protect soils and prevent pasture damage are needed. This requires a turn-around in philosophy from taking cows to pasture/crops, t...

A study was made to investigate faecal thiaminase and the thiamine-related biochemical changes in apparently normal replacement ewes with a feed change, after the initiation without adaptation to the new pasture. Twenty-four female ewes were divided into two groups. Group A was managed in a system based on pasture and was compared with group B system based on a diet of concentrate and straw unt...

1 2 A soil transfer field experiment has been designed in order to study (i) whether and how 3 Collembolan communities are affected by a sudden perturbation (a shift from agricultural land 4 to heathland, and the reverse), and (ii) whether species do respond in the same direction and 5 to the same extent according to their habitat preference (ascertained by controls). The study 6 was conducted ...

Introduction Cattle production on Brachiaria pastures is a primary use of cleared forestland in the western Brazilian Amazon. About 6.8 million hectares in the States of Acre and Rondônia have been deforested, where 75% of land is now grazed (IBGE, 1998). The principal pasture species are B. brizantha and B. decumbens with the latter in decline from spittlebug susceptibility (Deois incompleta; ...

In intercropping systems, shading is one of the main limiting factors for development plants in understory, especially C4 plants. However, successful pasture production silvopastoral systems can be achieved through proper spatial arrangement. This study provides fundamental information that validates macauba-grass consortium. For 20 months, during two dry seasons and rainy seasons, microclimati...

One IO-day experiment in autumn 1994 then four lo-day experiments throughout the 1994195 lactation in a complete Latin square investigated the effect of pasture species on yield, composition and total colour of milk from dairy cows. Treatments were Grasslands Kopu white clover (Trifolium repens L.), Yatsyn1 perennial ryegrass (L&urn perenne L.), Grasslands Kahu timothy (Phfeum pratense L.) and ...

In an automatic milking unit, a daytime grazing system with production pasture (group P) was compared with offering cows a small grass-covered paddock only for exercise and recreation, i.e. exercise pasture (group E). Two experiments (Exp1 and Exp2) were performed during 12 and 5 weeks with 53 cows and 42 cows, respectively. Group P was offered new pasture daily with night-time access to grass ...

Adding value to feeder cattle through feedlot retained ownership is a marketing alternative most producers often overlook. Universities, private consultants, cattle buyers and feedlot owners/managers have flooded the cattle industry with information pertaining to retained ownership. Yet producers are reluctant to view this as a marketing alternative. Most of this reluctance is due to a lack of ...

Historically, pasture breeders have not considered environmental weed risk in species selection and assessment. Consequently several pasture or former pasture species are now problematic environmental weeds in Australia. The CRC for Plant-Based Management of Dryland Salinity (CRC) has taken a pro-active approach to prevent further introduction or promotion of weedy pasture species by developing...