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Rearing of dairy cattle 6. The effect of length of grazing rotation on animal and herbage production in a grazing system for calves and heifers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. D. Leaver
J. D. Leaver
Affiliation:
National Institute for Research in Dairying, Shinfield, Reading, Berkshire
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Summary

A rigid system of grazing management was examined for 2 years using rotations of fixed length. Rotations of 21 and 35 days were compared at low (3 calves+ 3 heifers/ha) and high (4 calves+ 4 heifers/ha) stocking rates. The calves and heifers grazed the paddocks on a leader/follower basis.

Average growth rates for the 21- and 35-day rotations were respectively 0·75 and 0·78 for calves and 0·78 and 0·83 kg/day for heifers, but these differences were not significant. The 35-day rotation produced 6% more live-weight gain and 4% more herbage dry matter/ha than the 21-day rotation. The high stocking rate produced 14% more live-weight gain but 3% less herbage dry matter/ha than the low stocking rate. The total percentage utilization of herbage dry matter for the whole season was similar for 35- and 21-day rotations, averaging 90%. There were no significant interactions between length of rotation and stocking rate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , October 1975 , pp. 157 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1975

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References

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