Grazing management of goats in extensive rangeland production systems
On a world-wide basis, rangelands supporting extensive goat production enterprises are among the most degraded in terms of plant community composition and site stability. These typically are lands that support cattle production. Thus, a feasible alternative for forestalling further degradation of these lands is through applied grazing management since grazing management plans often require relatively little capital to implement. Implementing grazing management among small holders is not without limitations, however. Some form of strong central organization will be required where land is held in state of communal ownership. Also, incentives to producers will be necessary in order to deal with popularly-held attitudes that large numbers of animals represent a source of wealth and a hedge against impending droughts when major herd losses occur. Effective land management must include social, economic and political considerations. Stabilizing the typically large oscillations in forage supply, both seasonally and from year-to-year, should receive emphasis over schemes that promise to increase overall forage production during favorable growing seasons. Conserved crop forages and crop byproducts will face continued economic limitations in this regard. Deferment of grazing on particular areas, creating a standard of forage reserve, has biological appeal in certain areas but may be limited by rapid decomposition and depletion of feeding value of such forage in other areas. Research should identify and study those plant species that have high potential for maintaining nutritional quality in the different situations. The use of goats as biological tools for brush control has worked well in areas where the target brush species are relatively palatable and where the management and capital often required to implement such schemes have been available. In such areas, cattle production has typically been the higher management objective and goat production the secondary objective, careful attention should be given to maintaining those woody species that ofter potential as goat forage. Data are not available to permit a broadly-inclusive test of the hypothesis that animal production can be increased by mixed grazing schemes employing goats with cattle and (or) sheep
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Scottsdale, A.Z. (EUA)
1982
|
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|