Short Duration Grazing at the Texas Experimental Ranch: Weight Gains of Growing Heifers

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Abstract
Total and average daily gains of Hereford/Angus crossbred growing heifers were contrasted between a continuously grazed (CG) treatment and a 10-pasture, 1-herd rapidly rotated short duration grazing (SDG) treatment. Stocking rate in the CG was 0.48 ha/AUM [animal unit month], a moderate rate, while stocking rate in the SDG treatment was 0.24 ha/AUM. Trials were conducted during the 1978 and 1979 growing seasons. Both total and average daily gains were similar in both treatments both years. Because of the 2-fold difference in rate of stocking, production/ha was approximately double in the SDG to that in the CG treatment. A properly managed SDG system may satisfactorily support livestock at rates of stocking appreciably greater than that normally expected from conventional grazing schemes.