Pasture Utilization

1
Pasture Utilization
2
Establishment
3-6 months
choices
Continuous Grazing
Cut and Carry
Rotational Grazing
3
Cut Carry

• Animals are confined in pens
• Forage is cut and brought to animals
• Practiced in Feedlots and Dairy Animals
• Forage is usually chopped
• Animals cannot choose nutritious portions
• Feeding time is determined by producer

4
Napier grown for cut and carry in dairy farm
5
Forage chopped before feeding
6
Cut and carry feeding for dairy cows
7
CUT AND CARRY FEEDING FOR YOUNG CALVES
8
Continuous grazing

• Animals are confined to one paddock
• Area is fenced and a water source is supplied
• Animals can select their feed especially at the
  beginning
• Producer has less work compared to other systems

9
CONTINUOUS GRAZING
10
Rotational Grazing

• Paddock is divided into 4 to 6 plots
• Animals are confined within one plot and then
  shifted weekly to other plots
• Animals return to original plot after 3 to 5
  weeks depending on number of plots
• Allows pasture to have a rest period

11
Rotational Grazing
1
2
6
3
5
4
12
Rotational grazing in oil palm plantation
13
Using electric fencing
14
Cut-and-carry vs grazing

• Animals cannot select feed
• No return of waste to pasture
• Labour intensive
• Animals use less energy
• Animals protected from weather

• Animals can select feed
• Wastes returned to pasture
• Low labour requirement
• High energy use by animals
• Animals exposed to weather

15
Difference in quality between grazed and cut
carry
Napier Grass
Grazed Cut carry
Protein 17.1 Protein 7.4
16
Some experimental comparisons
Sahiwal Friesian dairy cattle (Soetrisno et al.
1984)

• Grazing Setaria splendida. Milk yield 10.2 kg/day

• Cut and carry Guinea and Napier. Milk yield 8.2
  kg/day

17
Wong et al. 1987

• Rotational grazing. Milk yield 5.7 kg/day

• Cut and carry. Milk yield 4.8 kg/day

18
Hutagalung Mahyuddin 1983

• Kedah-Kelantan cattle grazing Setaria. Average
  daily gain 159 g/day

• Cut and carry. Average daily gain 12 g/day

19
Cut and Carry is recommended when

• Animals have been recently introduced and are not
  adapted to the climate
• Sick or young animals
• Limited area for grazing
• Grazing area is wet and easily damaged
• During floods
• Feedlot

20
Feedlot cattle needs cut and carry system
21
Feedlot camels
22
Comparison between Continuous Rotational Grazing

• Continuous
• Lower cost for fencing and water points
• Less labour
• Animals can select feed, pastures unevenly used
• Pastures do not have a rest period
• Animals more susceptible to parasites

• Rotational
• Higher cost for fencing and water points
• More labour
• Less selection of feed, pastures more uniform
• Pastures have a rest period, good for legumes
• Animals less susceptible to parasites

23
Other types of grazing

• Free grazing
• Animals are left on unused open lands, including
  road sides low input
• Tether
• Animals are tethered to a tree to limit its area
  of grazing
• Strip grazing
• Animals can only graze a strip of land and they
  are moved daily using electric fencing mainly
  dairy

24
Strip grazing
25
Tethering
26
End