Winter Grazing - Sweetveld and Sourveld

Winter Grazing

How can existing forage resources be used for winter grazing?

Veld in certain areas on a farm might provide useful, cheap, grazing for winter. The mountaintops and higher slopes on a farm might be sourveld, and thus not much use for winter grazing, but there could be areas of sweetveld in the warm, drier river valleys.

 The livestock could graze the sourveld (photos left)  in summer and be moved into the sweetveld areas for winter. 

Crop residues can also provide useful grazing for winter. Wetland and floodplain areas near to rivers are valuable sources of good quality forage for domestic livestock or antelope in wildlife areas, especially during winter when forage may be scarce.

They tend to have more fertile soils than the surrounding veld and remain moister than veld during the dry season. They may be the only source of forage during very dry years, especially in the dry sweetveld areas where droughts are common. Because wetlands and floodplains are such important forage resources they need to be looked after carefully to ensure they are not destroyed through erosion or too much cultivation.

What is the difference between sweetveld and sourveld?  

The main difference between sweetveld (photo right) and sourveld is that in sweetveld areas the quality of the forage available to livestock in winter is usually good but in sourveld areas the quality of the forage during winter is poor. 

Good-quality forage is nutritious because it contains high levels of energy and nutrients that animals need, and can be easily digested by animals. Poor-quality forage is not very nutritious because it is difficult to digest and does not contain many useful nutrients.