Abstract

The arrangement of supplemental feed, water, shelter, and their concurrent interactions with topographic features may influence the distribution of animals and their simultaneous use of pasture’s resources. The effects of grazing and/or congregation management that control phosphorus cycling and distribution have not been sufficiently evaluated. The objectives of this study were: 1) to determine whether cattle congregation sites typical on most Florida ranches, repre-sented by water troughs and shaded areas, are more phosphorus-rich and may contribute more soluble phosphorus to surface water run-off and groundwater than other pasture locations; and 2) to assess the regional distribution of Mehlich-1 extractable soil phosphorus (MP) across congregation-grazing zones of forage-based pastures with cow-calf operations in Florida. Soil samples were collected at increasing distance from congregations structures (water troughs and shades) in established (>10 yr), grazed beef cattle pastures located in three Florida regions. Samples were col-lected in the fall and spring of 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively; following a radial (every 90 degrees) sampling pat-terns away from the center of the congregation structures. Averaged across years, MP and soil phosphorus saturation in the congregation zones were comparable (p ≤ 0.05) with MP values and soil phosphorus saturation in the grazing zones at all three Florida regions. Average MP at all three pasture locations did not exceed the crop requirement threshold of 50 mg P kg–1 and the water quality protection threshold of 150 mg P kg–1, suggesting that congregation zones in beef cattle pastures at all three regions of Florida are not phosphorus-rich.

Highlights

  • Livestock concentration areas in pastures can be important point sources of nutrient pollution and are often perceived to have higher amounts of soil phosphorus and nitrogen compared with less disturbed areas of the pasture

  • Soil phosphorus concentration varied among the pasture locations (p ≤ 0.0001) and pasture zone (p ≤ 0.001)

  • Soil phosphorus concentration varied with radial distance away from the center of the congregation structures (p ≤ 0.001)

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Livestock concentration areas in pastures can be important point sources of nutrient pollution and are often perceived to have higher amounts of soil phosphorus and nitrogen compared with less disturbed areas of the pasture. The arrangement of supplemental feed, water, shelter, and their concurrent interactions with topographic features obviously influences the distribution of animals and their use of pasture’s resources [1]. Distribution and movement patterns of cattle are valuable in allocating and assessing utilization impacts on a given pasture. Movement of free-ranging cattle varies due to spatial arrangement of forage resources within pastures [2] and the proximity of water [3,4], mineral feeders [5], and shades to grazing sites. Grazing animals congregate close to the shade and watering areas during the warmer periods of the day especially during summer months [8,9]

Objectives
Methods
Results
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.