In the present study a deterministic bio-economic model was used to estimate economic values for reproduction traits (conception rate, twining rate and litter size), production traits (body weight of kid sold at 6.5 months, annual cashmere weight, body weight of doe and annual milk yield) and longevity (survival of doe, survival of kid until weaning and survival of kid until sale age at 6.5 mon...

A biophysical whole farm system model was used to simulate the interaction between the historical climate, soil and pasture type at sites in southern Australia and assess the balance between productivity and greenhouse gas emissions (expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents, CO₂-eq.) intensity of beef cow-calf grazing systems. Four sites were chosen to represent a range of climatic zones, soil a...

The nutritional peculiarities of dairy products made with milk from pasture-fed ruminants would require a rapid control to be authenticated and limit the risk fraud. In current study, ninety samples two groups goats were analysed by electronic nose, quantitative descriptive sensory (QDA) gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis aim discriminating between produced on grazing confinement fee...

Over a 3-year period, 1183 brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were live-trapped in 125 ha of mixed hardwood forest and adjacent pasture in Westland, and 50 were radio-tracked for up to 14 months. Foraging movements between forest and pasture were much longer than previously reported. Twenty-eight percent of males and 18% of females denning c. 1000 m into forest were trapped on pasture at...

Copyright resides with the authors in terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 South African Licence. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/za Condition of use: The user may copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the work, but must recognise the authors and the South African Journal of Animal Science. _________________________________________________________________________________...

The intensification of dairying can have adverse impacts on the environment through diminished soil quality and greater loss of nutrients to water bodies. Poor soil quality can reduce the productivity and sustainability of pastoral farming systems. The effects of increased stocking rate (SR) (3, 4 and 5 cows/ha) and introducing a cut and carry system on soil, pasture and water quality were comp...

Dairy cows fed on perennial-ryegrass pasture produce higher-quality milk in terms of fatty-acid composition; however, they produce much less milk compared to dairy cows under other systems. The low dry-matter intake (DMI) has been identified as the main factor responsible for the lower milk production in pasture-based systems. To maximize milk production from those systems it is important to ma...

The paper describes and discusses the experience in mapping pasture types on the Tibetan Plateau. After pasture data recording in the fi eld campaign of 2004 the application of remote sensing and GIS to refi ne the vegetation mapping became viable. The vegetation types that resulted from the analysis of the fi eld data were aggregated into four main categories ( ́Kobresia pasture`, ́Miscellaneou...

The semi-private property rights arrangement called the Household Production Responsibility System (HPRS) was started in the early 1980s in Xilingol pasture of Inner Mongolia (China), and stimulated the development of stockbreeding. The grassland has been degrading severely with increasing numbers of livestock. Based on a historical review of property rights regimes in Inner Mongolia and empiri...