Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2018

Keywords

cattle, forage utilization, mob grazing, rotational grazing, weed management

Abstract

Short duration (≤24 h), high stocking density grazing systems (e.g., mob grazing) mimics historic prairie grazing patterns of American bison (Bison bison), and should minimize selective grazing. We compared mob [125 cow-calf pairs on either 0.65 ha for 12 h; or 1.3 ha for 24 h] vs. rotational [25 cow-calf pairs on 8.1 ha for 20 days starting in mid-May with or without 2,4-D application prior to grazing; and 15 days starting mid-April (no herbicide)] grazing systems based on forage utilization and impact to Artemisia absinthium (absinth wormwood) in a tall grass pasture of Eastern South Dakota. Grass height and density, and Artemisia absinthium patch volume were quantified pre- and post-grazing at sampling points along multiple transects. Mob grazing had > 75% forage utilization, whereas rotational grazing averaged 50% (all consumption). Within a grazing season, three grazing systems suppressed Artemisia absinthium patches with rotation/spray (100% decrease) > mob (65 ± 10% decrease) > mid-May rotation (41 ± 16% decrease), whereas Artemisia absinthium patches in the mid-April rotation followed by summer rest dramatically increased in size. Artemisia absinthium patches < 19,000 cm3 were browsed, whereas larger patches were trampled in mob-grazed areas, but avoided in rotational grazing. All Artemisia absinthium patches had regrowth the year following any grazing event.

Publication Title

Forage Groups

Volume

Chapter Four

First Page

53

Last Page

70

DOI of Published Version

10.5772/intechopen.79085

Publisher

IntechOpen

Rights

© 2018 The Author(s).

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Comments

This is chapter four in the book Forage Groups edited by Ricardo Loiola Edvan and Edson Mauro Santos. published by IntechOpen. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79085. Available from: https://www.intechopen.com/books/forage-groups/mob-vs-rotational-grazing-impact-on-forage-use-and-artemisia-absinthium

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