https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2020.1711

An on-farm rotational grazing trial: restricting access time to pasture did not affect the productivity of a dairy sheep flock in spring

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2021)
Submitted: 27 July 2020
Accepted: 6 October 2020
Published: 30 October 2020
Ewe, forage, mixed farming, Mediterranean, sustainable livestock production, agroecological practices, mixture, participatory research, co-design.
Abstract Views: 1374
PDF: 623
HTML: 73
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Highlights
- The challenge lies in comparing data of dairy sheep productivity collected at real farm condition with previous data measured in Mediterranean research stations.
- In this study, no difference in milk production was found between ewes allowed to graze two hours and four hours per day in spring.
- The ewes’ herbage intake rate correlates positively with pasture quality and a mixed pasture with a high share of legumes led to a high intake rate.
- We believe that the outcomes in this manuscript can contribute to increase knowledge about the sustainable management of small ruminant dairy farms in the contest of rural areas.

 

In the Mediterranean area, semi-extensive mixed farming systems characterise the inland landscape and guarantee the maintenance of several agroecosystem services. Rationed and rotational grazing have been proposed as efficient agroecological practices for sustainable intensification. Previous studies have highlighted that, during spring, restricted access time to pasture of below four hours per day decreases herbage intake and milk production of rotationally stoked ewes. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of restricted access time on daily herbage intake and milk productivity of Sarda ewes under rotational grazing management in a real farm located in southern Tuscany. The entire flock of 145 lactating ewes was allotted two homogenous groups and rotationally stoked on a grass-legume mixed pasture and fed about 1.7 kg of DM ewe–1 d–1 of supplementation. Each group was then assigned to the following treatments: two hours per day of access time to pasture, from 10:00 to 12:00 CET, and four hours per day of access time to pasture, from 10:00 to 14:00 CET. Data on herbage yield and quality, dry matter intake and milk yield were collected from April 5 to May 10, 2018. The rotational grazing schedule was conducted allowing for abundant herbage and exploiting high-nutritive biomass of the upper horizon sward. The results of our on-farm experiment showed that restricting daily access time to pasture down two hours did not reduce the potential daily herbage intake and the milk performance of dairy ewes rotationally stocked on a mixed pasture in spring. Our study also highlighted the capacity of ewes to self-regulate the herbage intake in order to meet their energy requirements, when neutral detergent fibre is not a limiting factor. Our outcomes should encourage researchers and farmers to co-design further on-farm experiments.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Annicchiarico P, Ruisi P, Di Miceli G, Pecetti L, 2014. Morpho-physiological and adaptive variation of Italian germplasm of sulla (Hedysarum coronarium L.). Crop Pasture Sci. 65:206-13. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/CP13342 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/CP13342
AOAC, 1990. Official methods of analysis. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Avondo M, Bordonaro S, Marletta D, Guastella AM, D’Urso G, 2002. A simple model to predict the herbage intake of grazing dairy ewes in semi-extensive Mediterranean systems. Livest. Prod. Sci. 73:275-83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0301-6226(01)00245-7
Avondo M, Bonanno A, Pagano RI, Valenti B, Grigoli A Di, Luigia Alicata M, Galofaro V, Pennisi P, 2008. Milk quality as affected by grazing time of day in Mediterranean goats. J. Dairy Res. 75:48-54. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022029907003019
Avondo M, Secchiari P, Battaglini LM, Bonanno A, Pulina G, 2013. Soil, pasture and animal product quality. Ital. J. Agron. 8:141-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2013.e19
Baumont R, Cohen-Salmon D, Prache S, Sauvant D, 2004. A mechanistic model of intake and grazing behaviour in sheep integrating sward architecture and animal decisions. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 112:5-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2003.10.005
Bonanno A, Di Grigoli A, Mazza F, De Pasquale C, Giosuè C, Vitale F, Alabiso M, 2016. Effects of ewes grazing sulla or ryegrass pasture for different daily durations on forage intake, milk production and fatty acid composition of cheese. Animal 10:2074-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731116001130
Borreani G, Roggero PP, Sulas L, Valente ME, 2003. Quantifying Morphological Stage to Predict the Nutritive Value in Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium L.). Agron. J. 95:1608-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2003.1608
Charpentier A, Caillat H, Gastal F, Delagarde R, 2019a. Intake, milk production and grazing behaviour responses of strip-grazing dairy goats to daily access time to pasture and to dehydrated lucerne supplementation. Livest. Sci. 229:90-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2019.09.019
Charpentier A, Caillat H, Gastal F, Delagarde R, 2019b. Intake, milk yield and grazing behaviour of strip-grazing Alpine dairy goats in response to daily pasture allowance. Animal 13:2492-500. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731119000703
Conant RT, Cerri CEP, Osborne BB, Paustian K, 2017. Grassland management impacts on soil carbon stocks: A new synthesis: A. Ecol. Appl. 27:662-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1473
De Renobales M, Amores G, Arranz J, Virto M, Barrón LJR, Bustamante MA, Ruiz De Gordoa JC, Nájera AI, Valdivielso I, Abilleira E, Beltrán De Heredia I, Pérez-Elortondo FJ, Ruiz R, Albisu M, Mandaluniz N, 2012. Part-time grazing improves sheep milk production and its nutritional characteristics. Food Chem. 130:90-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.07.002
Di Grigoli A, Todaro M, Di Miceli G, Genna V, Tornambè G, Alicata ML, Giambalvo D, Bonanno A, 2012. Effects of continuous and rotational grazing of different forage species on ewe milk production. Small Rumin. Res. 106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2012.04.030
Farinella D, 2018. La pastorizia sarda di fronte al mercato globale. Ristrutturazione della filiera lattiero-casearia e strategie di ancoraggio al locale. Meridiana. Riv. Stor. Sci. Soc. 93:113-34.
Garcia F, Carrère P, Soussana JF, Baumont R, 2003. The ability of sheep at different stocking rates to maintain the quality and quantity of their diet during the grazing season. J. Agric. Sci. 140:113-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021859602002769
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), 2010. Alimentation Des bovins, Ovins Et Caprins: Besoins Des animaux, Valeurs Des aliments, Guide pratique. Editions Quae, Versailles, France.
Lenth R, Singmann H, Love J, Buerkner P, Herve M, 2020. emmeans: estimated marginal means. R package version 1.4. 4. Am. Stat. 34:216-21.
Marley CL, Fraser MD, Fisher WJ, Forbes AB, Jones R, Moorby JM, MacRae JC, Theodorou MK, 2007. Effects of continuous or rotational grazing of two perennial ryegrass varieties on the chemical composition of the herbage and the performance of finishing lambs. Grass Forage Sci. 62:255-64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2494.2007.00582.x
Mele M, 2009. Designing milk fat to improve healthfulness and functional properties of dairy products: From feeding strategies to a genetic approach. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 8:365-73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/ijas.2009.s2.365
Molle G, Decandia M, Cabiddu A, Landau SY, Cannas A, 2008. An update on the nutrition of dairy sheep grazing Mediterranean pastures. Small Rumin. Res. 77:93-112. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2008.03.003
Molle G, Decandia M, Giovanetti V, Manca C, Acciaro M, Epifani G, Salis L, Cabiddu A, Sitzia M, Cannas A, 2017. Grazing behaviour, intake and performance of dairy ewes with restricted access time to berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) pasture. Grass Forage Sci. 72:194-210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12228
Molle G, Decandia M, Giovanetti V, Manca C, Acciaro M, Epifani G, Salis L, Cabiddu A, Sitzia M, Cannas A, 2014. Effects of restricted time allocation to pasture on feeding behaviour, intake and milk production of dairy sheep rotationally grazing Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam) in spring. Anim. Prod. Sci. 54:1233-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/AN14376
Mottet A, de Haan C, Falcucci A, Tempio G, Opio C, Gerber P, 2017. Livestock: On our plates or eating at our table? A new analysis of the feed/food debate. Glob. Food Sec. 14:1-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2017.01.001
Oteros-Rozas E, Martín-López B, Fagerholm N, Bieling C, Plieninger T, 2018. Using social media photos to explore the relation between cultural ecosystem services and landscape features across five European sites. Ecol. Indic. 94:74-86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.02.009
Penning PD, Hooper GE, 1985. An evaluation of the use of shortâ€term weight changes in grazing sheep for estimating herbage intake. Grass Forage Sci. 40:79-84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2494.1985.tb01722.x
Penning PD, Hooper GE, Treacher TT, 1986. The effect of herbage allowance on intake and performance of ewes suckling twin lambs. Grass Forage Sci. 41:199-208. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2494.1986.tb01805.x
Peyraud JL, Taboada M, Delaby L, 2014. Integrated crop and livestock systems in Western Europe and South America: A review. Eur. J. Agron. 57:31-42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2014.02.005
Pinheiro J, Bates D, DebRoy S, Sarkar D, R Core Team, 2020. {nlme}: Linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. Available from: https://cran.r-project.org/package=nlme
Pulina G, Milán MJ, Lavín MP, Theodoridis A, Morin E, Capote J, Thomas DL, Francesconi AHD, Caja G, 2018. Invited review: Current production trends, farm structures, and economics of the dairy sheep and goat sectors. J. Dairy Sci. 101:6715-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2017-14015
Pulina G, Avondo M, Molle G, Francesconi AHD, Atzori AS, Cannas A, 2013. Models for estimating feed intake in small ruminants. Rev. Bras. Zootec. 42:675-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-35982013000900010
Pulina G, Macciotta N, Nudda A, 2005. Milk composition and feeding in the Italian dairy sheep. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 4:5-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/ijas.2005.1s.5
Sauvant D, Baumont R, Faverdin P, 1996. Development of a mechanistic model of intake and chewing activities of sheep. J. Anim. Sci. 74:2785-802. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2527/1996.74112785x
R Core Team, 2020. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria. Available from: https://www.R-project.org/
Sollenberger LE, Moore JE, Allen VG, Pedreira CGS, 2005. Reporting forage allowance in grazing experiments. Crop Sci. 45:896-900. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2004.0216
Valenti B, Marletta D, De Angelis A, Di Paola F, Bordonaro S, Avondo M, 2017. Herbage intake and milk yield in Comisana ewes as effect of 4 vs 7 h of grazing during late lactation. Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 49:989-94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-017-1287-7
Vallebona C, Mantino A, Bonari E, 2016. Exploring the potential of perennial crops in reducing soil erosion: A GIS-based scenario analysis in southern Tuscany, Italy. Appl. Geogr. 66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.11.015
van Soest PJ, Robertson JB, Lewis BA, 1991. Polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition. J. Dairy Sci. 74:3583-97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(91)78551-2
Wezel A, Peeters A, 2014. Agroecology and herbivore farming systems - principles and practices. Options Méditerranéennes. Ser. A Mediterr. Semin.:753–67. Available from: http://om.ciheam.org/om/pdf/a109/a109.pdf
Yao X, Wu J, Gong X, Lang X, Wang C, Song S, Ali Ahmad A, 2019. Effects of long term fencing on biomass, coverage, density, biodiversity and nutritional values of vegetation community in an alpine meadow of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Ecol. Eng. 130:80-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2019.01.016
Zingaro M, Salvatori V, Vielmi L, Boitani L, 2018. Are the livestock guarding dogs where they are supposed to be? Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 198:89-94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2017.10.002

How to Cite

Mantino, A., Cappucci, A., Annecchini, F., Volpi, I., Bargagli, E., Bonari, E., Ragaglini, G., & Mele, M. (2020). An on-farm rotational grazing trial: restricting access time to pasture did not affect the productivity of a dairy sheep flock in spring. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2020.1711

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.