Further Studies on Continuous and Rotational Grazing of Irrigated Pasture by Yearling Beef Steers and Heifers

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Abstract
The method of grazing is one of the most important tools a pasture operator has for controlling animal production on grazed pastures. For many years, rotational, rather than continuous, grazing has been widely advocated in countries where pasture plays a significant role in livestock production (McMeekan and Walske, 1963). However, the claims made by McMeekan and Walske in favor of rotational grazing were based on a study using dairy cows, and were not entirely substantiated by the work of Hull, Meyer and Raguse (1967) using beef steers. They found that rotational grazing was better than, or equal to, continuous grazing in animal days grazing and live weight gain/ha, but only at heavy stocking rates. At a medium stocking rate, continuous grazing was better than, or equal to, rotational grazing when live weight gain/ha, live weight gain/ha per animal day and energy gain/ha were considered. The species of plant grazed (Meyer, Hull and Lofgreen 1957; Spedding, 1965) may influence production as much as does the system of grazing management. Copyright © 1971. American Society of Animal Science. Copyright 1971 by American Society of Animal Science.

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