The lower montane zone of northwestern Ecuador, like many parts of the tropics, is undergoing rapid conversion from native forest vegetation to crop and pastureland. The current landscape is a mosaic of agricultural land, forest fragments and secondgrowth vegetation in various stages of development. While there is abundant research documenting the e€ects of land-use change in the lowland tropic...

The continuing clearance of native vegetation for pasture, and especially cropping, is a concern due to declines in soil organic C (SOC) and N, deteriorating soil health, and adverse environment impact such as increased emissions of major greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O and CH4). There is a need to quantify the rates of SOC and N budget changes, and the impact on greenhouse gas emissions from land u...

The Montado is a silvo-pastoral system characterized by open canopy woodlands with natural or cultivated grassland in the undercover and grazing animals. The aims of this study were to present several proximal sensors with potential to monitor relevant variables in the complex montado ecosystem and demonstrate their application in a case study designed to evaluate the effect of trees on the pas...

Changes in commodity pricing and environmental concerns are changing animal agriculture throughout the United States. Adopting multispecies grazing as an alternative production system could result in improved forage utilization, increased animal performance, and reduced production costs, and thereby improve the financial stability of livestock operations. This study focused on the Silver Spur R...

Ultrahigh stocking density (113,000 kg of beef per ha to as high as 1 million kg per ha) or mob grazing has been suggested to build soil, increase forage production and plant diversity, and improve grazing distribution compared to less intensive grazing systems. Experimental evidence does not completely support such conclusions. The overall focus of this research is based on the approach of bui...

Story in Brief A total of 96 growing-finishing swine were used to study the effect of an anthelmintic treatment regime and management system on pig performance, liver lesions and intestinal worm burdens. Anthelmintics had no significant effect on rate of gain in pigs fed in confinement or in pasture lots. Feed efficiency was significantly (P<.OI) improved by anthelminics only during the grower ...

Many factors affect ruminant carcass and meat quality, and among the genetic and environmental factors, feeding plays an important role in the determination of quality. In a large study, sixty-four German Holstein and German Simmental bulls were randomly allocated to either an indoor concentrate feeding system or periods of pasture feeding following by a finishing period. During this period the...

The quality of eggs and the hatching traits of two slow-growing lines – La Belle (LB) and Bresse Gauloise (BB) reared under conventional or alternative system with pasture access were compared. The birds of both lines in the study were at the age of 27-37 weeks. Two-way ANOVA was used to assess the effect of the rearing system as well as the line on the quality characteristics of the eggs and h...

Pasture-based dairy systems use grazing to supply significant percentages of the dry matter intake of cows and heifers. Such systems vary from those for which pasture is used only as a supplemental feed for cows primarily fed a total mixed ration to those for which pasture is the primary source of dry matter for the herd. Cows that are optimal in a pasture system share many general characterist...

Pasture quality is an important component in grazing and livestock management and a key driver of animal performance. Accurate, real-time information on pasture quality can help farm managers in decision making. This study investigated the potential applicability of optical sensors to estimate pasture quality parameters in the field, these have been trialled as part of the P21 Feed Programme, c...