Forages 1 & 2 Flashcards
What is continuous grazing?
Where cattle are left out in a pasture and they can roam/eat freely
Advantages to continuous grazing
- little to no management
- cost effective
-best for maximizing animal production
Disadvantages to continuous grazing
- Most detrimental to pasture due to patch grazing
What is stocking rate?
Used to calculate to make sure pastures aren’t overstocked
What is included in stock rate?
- size of pasture
- # of animals
- time
What does AUM/ac stand for?
Animal Unit Months per Acre
What is AUM/ac?
Amount of feed consumed one month
What is defoliation?
leaf removed from the stem/plant
Where do plants store energy?
roots
What is harvest efficiency?
amount of forage grazing animals actually consume
Why do we clip pastures?
Figure out how much forage there is
What is rotational grazing?
Four sections of pasture, cows are let into one part for X amount of time then moved to the next section
Advantages of rotational grazing?
- allows rest and growth for the pasture
- no re grazing
Disadvantages of rotational grazing?
- lower forage production
- high maintenance (checking cattle, maintain fences, maintain water)
What is strip grazing?
Fences are laid out horizontally to section out the pasture. Cattle are moved down after X amount of weeks