Abstract
The influence of stocking pressure at a fixed stocking rate (5.6 ha/A.U.) was investigated by comparing continuous grazing with a short-duration grazing (SDG) system from March through December 1975. The SDG system consisted of five paddocks grazed sequentially by one herd on a 28-day rotation schedule. Each treatment was stocked with four non-fistulated and two esophageally-fistulated Hereford hiefers which remained in the same treatment throughout the study. Vegetation was evaluated in the continuously-grazed paddock on 28-day intervals and immediately before and after grazing in each SDG paddock. Foliar cover of each species was estimated; then a measured amount of cover representative of the species and/or species group was clipped and weighed. Standing crop was composed of cool and warm season species with Texas wintergrass (Stipa leucotricha) dominating. Cool season forbs were abundant during the spring and Texas broomweed (Zanthocephalum texanum), a warm season annual, was abundant during summer and fall. There was more grass standing crop on day 1 and day 28 in the SDG system than under continuous grazing. Forb standing crop was significantly lower after grazing in the SDG system compared to continuous grazing. Stocking pressures (kg of forage available per animal-unit) were approximately one fifth as great under SDG as compared to continuous grazing.
Anderson, Dean Mauritz (1977). Standing crop, diets, travel and weight changes under short-duration and continuous grazing. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -365825.