185 Opportunities and Challenges of Conducting Grazing Experiments in Pasturelands. (8th October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vendramini, Joao; Sollenberger, Lynn; Silveira, Maria Lucia L
• Is Part Of: Journal of animal science. Volume 99(2021)Supplement 3
• Page Start: 99
• Page End: 100
• Publication Date: 2021-10-08
• Subjects: grasslands -- animal performance -- forage characteristics; Livestock -- Periodicals; Livestock; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 636.005
• DOI: 10.1093/jas/skab235.179
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8812

Abstract

Abstract: Grasslands cover approximately 30% of the world area and research conducted in pasturelands has been crucial to realize the benefits of grassland contributions to livestock production and ecosystem services. The Forage and Grazing Terminology Task Force has developed a list of recommended nomenclature for grazing lands research and this effort has been a landmark to avoid misleading terms in research reports. Other challenges remain. The intrinsic variability of pastureland research data limits the capacity of researchers to detect differences among treatments. In addition, the quantity of resources and labor required by pastureland experiments may lead researchers to decrease the size of experimental units and/or number of replicates, exacerbating the limitations in detecting differences among treatments. In general, experimental units in grazing studies encompass relatively large areas, which may pose a challenge to identifying representative sampling units that reflect the experimental area. The use of indirect measurements to estimate forage mass is a feasible approach to increase the representativeness of forage quantity evaluations. The nutritive value determination of forage samples from grazing studies also has many limitations. The collection of samples representing the animal diet and the methods of nutritive value determination, primarily digestibility, are major areas of concern. For animal performance evaluations, determination of the correct experimental unit has been a frequent issue. Among animal measures, forage intake is one of the most influential factors affecting animal performance and the existent methodology to estimate forage intake by grazing animals has limitations, reducing the accuracy of the results. Development and validation of mathematical models to estimate the benefits of grasslands on livestock performance and ecosystem services are important steps in the evolution of grassland science, but in some cases additional data are needed to support this effort.