Grazing management of goats and sheep for gorse control

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Abstract
A grazing management trial in North Canterbury compared the effects of goats or sheep grazed alone, or in mixtures with 2 goats equivalent to 1 sheep (all dry stock), with either rotational grazing or set stocking. An extra ‘fast rotation’ with sheep was included. Three years of grazing after a gorse (Ulex europaeus L.) burn and oversowing resulted in both goat-only management treatments, and the sheep + goat mixture rotationally grazed, reducing gorse to negligible levels. Sheep alone were usually ineffective, although, under a ‘fast rotation’, gorse was contained for the first year. When 4 of these grazing treatments (goats only, sheep + goat mixtures, with rotational grazing, set stocking) were repeated in a subsequent year, all treatments similarly reduced gorse to negligible levels. All goat pastures, irrespective of grazing management, contained more white clover than did sheep pastures, and rotationally grazed swards had more ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and less browntop (Agrostis capillaris) than did set-stocked swards.

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