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.
Posts
