Timetable - Cultivated pastures (South Africa)

Sheep on Lucerne - Skape op Lusern

Rooster - Aangeplante Weiding

Die koeie vreet mengsel van groen lusern, groen hawer/ryegrass, mieliemeel, sojaoliekoek, katoensaad en minerale. 57% kragvoer teenoor 43% ruvoer op DM basis bereken. - Gerdie Landman - Mooimelk Koeihotel, Kookhuis, Oos-Kaap. 

Veld Management Guidelines

Veld is a word used in South Africa for natural vegetation that animals graze for food. The grass, bushes, and trees in the veld provide valuable food for cattle, sheep, goats, and wild animals.

The following guidelines will contribute to a successful veld management program:

1.  Know the various grass species and their grazing/nutritional value.

2. Accept that all grasses are not suitable for grazing. Palatable perennial grasses should be utilized as the main source of feeding.

3.  Accept that good animal production can only be obtained, when animals have access to sufficient good palatable (tasty) grass.

4.    Plan the farm and make camps according to differences in veld types and animal preferences.

5.    Apply the correct stocking rate by adapting animal numbers to the current veld and climate conditions.

6.   It is essential for veld to be rested during the growing season to build up reserves and for seed production and the establishment of seedlings. Remember, rotational grazing does not imply necessarily the resting of veld and for #sweetveld a full growing season resting period is recommended.

7.      Keep record of the number of animals and the number of days a camp is grazed. 

Important:

1)         Veld must periodically rest for full growing season.

2)         Short, protein rich grass for increased sheep performance.

3)         Combine 1 & 2 in a veld management system to:

*          Maintain veld vigour and carrying capacity.

*          Increase animal performance.

Ensure sufficient roughage in a cost effective veld-based feed flow program.

Grazing maize – a real champion in winter for ruminants

Whole maize is an excellent proposition as winter grazing for the sheep and cattle farmer. Weaner lambs can be raised on maize, currently with good economic benefits; Use #maize for grazing as a “low cost feedlot”.

 It can also be utilized successfully for over-wintering of ewes with lambs.  Maize fills the winter gap effectively in a fodder flow from autumn until the first spring rains and can be used on its own or in combination with other winter pastures or crop residues or even saved for bridging the difficult August-September period. 

It is a low risk, high potential winter pasture produced with summer rain and kept until winter as forage. It is thus not, as in the case of winter grains, dependent on unreliable autumn rains.  Prior to winter a relative reliable estimate can be made of the amount of fodder available. In case of high grain yields, some rows can even be reaped for grain production; the crop residues of the reaped areas can also contribute to the feed available on the land.

#Cultivation of maize for grazing:

The carrying capacity of maize is determined to a large extent by the grain yield; therefor maize for grazing should be cultivated similar to maize as a cash crop, i.e. a suitable cultivar for the area producing a high grain yield. Normally the cultivar suited for grain and silage production in an area will also be good for grazing. Weed control may be less to lower cultivation cost, because especially grassy weeds are good grazing. 

$Grazing period:

Maize can be grazed from the first frost up to the first spring rains, roughly taken as ±100 days. Some farmers prefer to start grazing it earlier, when the maize are still a bit green and sheep will take in more leafy material and less grain and adapt more easily. As the season proceeds, dry material losses will be unavoidable and maize in the latter part of the grazing season will inevitably be of lower quality than those grazed earlier in the season.

#Adaptation of sheep prior to grazing:

Acidosis (suurpens) because of the high energy content of maize, is a real threat, but proper adaptation of animals prior to grazing combined with buffers in the lick, can successfully control it. A method that is effective is to give sheep each day an increasing amount of whole maize supplementation (or even maize cobs) on veld or whatever pasture they are utilizing at that moment

Some farmers prefer to start grazing maize immediately with restricted grazing periods that increases every following day. Supervision is of the utmost importance. Ensure that internal parasites are under control and inoculate against pulpy kidney.

Grazing of the whole maize plant:

Weaner lambs:

Inoculate against pulpy kidney and adapt as above.

Ewes with lambs:

Lambs should be at least three weeks of age when grazing commences, to ensure that they are strong enough and do not get separated from their mothers. Lambs will gradually, as they start grazing, adapt on the high energy diet and should not be susceptible to acidosis. They will also benefit from the good milk production of their dams on the maize.

The one serious shortcoming of grazing maize is an insufficient protein-content for producing sheep, which should be rectified with a protein lick or a protein-rich companion crop like Japanese radish. Protein supplementation in a lick is very effective and eliminates a lot of practical problems. Ensure enough lick trough space, enough lick intake and supply fresh lick often.

Graze restricted areas at a time to reduce selective grazing habits and tramplng losses.  If not, sheep will at first select a high quality diet that will become poorer with time, and with it animal performance will decline. Temporarily or electric fences may be used to divide in smaller areas. Move to the next camp when the area is well utilized but ± 20% grain is still available. Non-producing animals, like old ewes can be used as scavengers.

Growth:

Pre-weaning growth of lambs should be 180 - 250g per day, with lactating ewes

50-100g/day and weaner lambs between 180-200g/per day and even more.

Natural Pastures - fine wool

It is possible to produce finer wool effectively under natural pastures. It is, however, important that traits such as body weight, wool production and reproduction must be included in the selection objectives in order to improve or maintain these traits.

Livestock depend on natural pastures for their diets, and rainfall is the most important factor determining the quantity and quality of pastures and water.  

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.