Experts were interviewed on the grazing preferences of sheep in upland vegetation types and on the responses of plants to grazing. A qualitative model of direction of change in species abundance given different seasonal sheep grazing management regimes was constructed with the expert information. The model was tested against empirical data of sward responses to summer-only grazing. The approach...

Context An accession of the annual legume Trigonella balansae Boiss. & Reuter. has been selected for commercial release in Australia. Aims As part a duty-of-care assessment, we tested hypothesis that sheep grazing trigonella will have liveweight, condition scores and wool production similar to those two widely adopted legumes, subterranean clover (subclover, Trifolium subterraneum L. cv. Da...

Methane (CH4) emissions from ruminants should be accounted for the natural grazed rangeland ecosystems when devising greenhouse gas budget inventory, in particular, their contribution to global warming. In this study, CH4 emission from sheep respiration at different grazing intensities (light grazing, 0.75 sheep/ha, LG; moderate grazing, 1.50 sheep/ha, MG; and heavy grazing, 2.25 sheep/ha, HG) ...

(Photo acknowledgement: Kurrawa Alpacas 2002, Mahoney 2004) Canine attacks on newborn lambs are a problem for sheep farmers, causing substantial economic losses to the sheep industry. Anecdotal evidence indicates that alpacas reduce the losses caused by such attacks when placed within sheep flocks. A study was conducted at two sheep farms in rural NSW where experimental – ewes grazing with alpa...

A study was conducted to assess effects of stocking rate (SR) on grazing behavior and energy expenditure (EE) by growing sheep and goat wethers co-grazing grass/forb pastures. Grazing was for 16-week periods in 2002 and 2003. Pastures consisted of various grasses, primarily bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense), and forbs (e.g., ragweed; Ambrosia spp.). Sheep (Kha...

Reports of positive or neutral effects of grazing on plant species richness have prompted calls for livestock grazing to be used as a tool for managing land for conservation. Grazing effects, however, are likely to vary among different response variables, types, and intensity of grazing, and across abiotic conditions. We aimed to examine how grazing affects ecosystem structure, function, and co...

The foraging behaviour (grazing time and diet composition), live-weight (LW) changes and parasitic infection (faecal egg counts of gastrointestinal nematodes) of 12 beef cows, 84 ewes and 84 goats suckling their offspring, managed in mixed grazing on heathlands with 24% of improved pasture of perennial ryegrass-white clover, were studied during the years 2003 and 2006. The results showed that g...

The identification of meat quality characteristics from selected breeds grazing in specific regions is particularly relevant to achieve a marketing advantage. Longisimus thoracis at lumborum (LTL) from the indigenous Western Balkan (WB) sheep VlašićkaPramenka (VP) sheep and lambs, and Pivska Pramenka (PP) sheep grazing in Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H) and Montenegro (MN), respectively, was compare...

Four stocking densities (2, 3, 5 and 9 sheep/18 m for one hour) and two times of grazing (morning or evening) were imposed on a spaced plant nursery of nine red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) populations of varying growth habit, in order to optimize measurement of sheep grazing preference. Plant height, spread and leafiness were measured before and after each of three grazings. Sheep preference...

Background. A large proportion of natural grasslands around the world is exposed to overgrazing resulting in land degradation and biodiversity loss. Although there is an increasing effort in the promotion of sustainable livestock management, rangeland degradation still occurs because animals' foraging behaviour is highly selective at different spatial scales. The assessment of the ecological me...