109 Invited Talk: Grazing Management and Stocking Strategy Decisions for Pasture-Beef Systems: Experimental Confirmation vs Testimonials and Perceptions

Abstract

Abstract The primary objectives of forage-based livestock grazing systems are to enhance sustainability of pastures and cattle production, and to maintain economic stability in the presence of changes in input costs and returns. Grazing management strategies and implementation vary for adapted forages according to vegetational-hardiness zones, livestock production objectives, and manager preferences for grazing systems, stocking rates, and stocking methods. Stocking methods are strategies or techniques to manipulate grazing animals in space and time and may be considered as variations of continuous or rotational stocking. In many stocking method discussions, the debates are often focused on experimental confirmational data vs testimonials and perceptions. Acceptable methodology and statistical analyses of grazing experimentation on continuous vs rotational stocking provides repeated measures of forage nutritive value, forage mass, grazing intensity, and stocking rate on gain per animal, gain per unit land area. Additional measurements may include effects on forage stand maintenance and soil nutrient analyses-status. Recent adaptations of mob stocking and intensive rotational grazing via popular press and consultants have received acclaims for methods to enhance ecosystem services, soil health, and other non-experimentally documented attributes. Managers may adopt these testimonials of stocking methods of 60 days or more deferment based on their perception of protecting and enhancing the environment rather than logic of seeking experimental evidence. However, when given a choice of forage available for consumption, cattle select more than 80% of their diet as leaves. Thus, with respect to average daily gain per animal (ADG), only a small percentage of pasture studies have shown an advantage for rotational stocking. The lack of ADG was attributed to reduced nutritive value of forage available for selection during the residence time. Selecting management and stocking strategies for optimum utilization for forage produced, individual animal performance, and overall gain per unit land area has led to flexible grazing systems. These grazing systems may not be “hardcore rotationally, time-scheduled stocked,” but they do involve multiple pastures with strategies to incorporate movement of cattle based on current paddock forage status and forage mass estimates for desired animal performance. Grazing management strategies control the degree of intensity of beef cattle production based on level of economic risk and desired-expected environmental stewardship goals. Of all the strategies that management may adopt for grazing, the primary factor that controls resultant sustainability of pastures is that of grazing intensity as measured by stocking rate or forage height-density. Implementing revised or new management strategies requires attention to detail and the use of data-results-recommendations from comparative experiments conducted by a recognized source without conflict of interest in the method promoted.