The Rural Voice, 1998-08, Page 39.06
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producers in the area who were using
older pastures in their operations and
where their grass quality was lower,"
Johnston said.
During a four-year experiment,
rotational grazing produced 828
kilograms of lamb gain per hectare
compared to 561 kilograms of gain
per hectare under modified
continuous grazing.
After assessing both methods, the
team concluded a combination of
rotation and modified continuous
grazing might lead to more efficient
pasture management.
"It depends on what the producer
wants to do. If the object is to market
Iambs then he might want to graze
them on the new growth that the
rotational method allows. If he wants
to simply maintain his ewes until just
before breeding, then he might want
to use continuous grazing where there
is more feed available but the quality
isn't as high."
By grazing the entire field, the
lambs performed better in the first
four weeks.
"There was Tess incidence of
scouring and coccidiosis and less fly
strike. Continuous grazing was better
early in the season. The animals
spread out and picked the best
grazing."
But as spring turned into summer,
feed quality was found to drop earlier
under the continuous method. In the
test, the ewes and Iambs were turned
out together when the Iambs were a
month old. The Iambs were weaned
in July.
Under the rotational grazing
method, the lamb daily gain averaged
195 grams while under modified
continuous grazing, the average gain
was just slightly higher at 202 grams
per day.
Tests revealed rotationally grazed
Iambs graded better with a higher
percentage live -graded A lambs
coming directly off pasture in
September. The percentage of A
quality lambs was also more
consistent over the four year period.
By comparison, lambs did not do
as well on the continuous pastures
where plant quality was often poor in
July after the spring growth matured.
The field was clipped and the re-
growth was of high quality but the
shorter stand resulted in Tess extra
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AUGUST 1998 35