2023 Volume 69 Issue 3 Pages 109-119
To establish a labor-saving cattle stocking management method in temperate grass area, we investigated animal performance in continuous stocking on Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) mixed sward in Hokkaido for 16 years. Holstein cattle (mean initial age, 6.9 months; body weight, 231 kg) were put out to pasture. To reduce the surplus herbage, stocking was initiated at a plant length of 5 cm, and the annual fertilization rate was decreased to 2-3, 3, and 4-7 kg/10a/year of N, P2O5, and K2O, respectively, and the entire amounts were fertilized in late June after spring flash. The average stocking intensity at the start was set at 1,107 kgBW/ha, and the number of grazing animals was reduced so that the daily body weight gain was 0.8 kg/head/day or more during the grazing period. The number of the fixed stocking days and the body weight gain per hectare were positively correlated with the herbage mass, and the daily gain per head was positively correlated with the CP content of the grass. Body weight gain (560-1,000 kg/ha) and stocking capacity (448-592 CD) were obtained.
