Intensive Rotational Grazing in the Dairy Industry

Abstract

Pastures had been a significant feature of theAmerican landscape for centuries, and were used as themajor source of nutrients for dairy cows. Many studiesin the early 1900s focused on agronomic and pasture productivity, pasture management, animal responses, and economic factors (Fales, et al., 1992), and scientists in the United States were considered leaders in pasture research and education. The movement away from pasture systems toward "confined" systems began in the 50s and was caused by many economic, political, and technological factors. Research and education programs related to pasture declined dramatically, and pasture use declined in Pennsylvania from about 170 days per year in the early 1950s to 64 days (mainly exercise lots) in 1990. Pasture systems based on early United States research were adopted widely in various countries of Europe and in New Zealand, and these countries are now considered the world leaders in intensive pasture systems.