Browsing by Author "Bransby, David Ian."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

An assessment of Coastcross II Bermudagrass and kikuyu for growing out young beef animals.
(1983) Bransby, David Ian.; Tainton, Neil M.
The immediate aim of this study was to relate herbage availability, liveweight gain and stocking rate to one another under continuous and rotational grazing so that management recommendations could be formulated for Coastcross II Bermudagrass and kikuyu. In addition, these data would be used for an economic evaluation of growing out young beef animals on these two pasture species. The broad long term goal was to use this information to persuade farmers to make more use of planted pastures and thereby reduce the stocking pressure on the veld. Besides pursuing the primary objectives, the study offered an opportunity to make an observational assessment of the put-and-take technique for use in grazing trials. In relation to fixed stocking, variable stocking appeared to have no distinct advantage in this study. This conclusion is drawn from the fact that little success was achieved in applying put-and-take at a high level of precision. It was therefore recommended that future trials should make use of fixed stocking, except when variation in herbage availability is very large and predictable. In such cases the use of put-and-take would be warranted. Liveweight gain of animals was linearly related to herbage availability. In two seasons liveweight gain of animals on Coastcross was higher for continuous grazing than for rotational grazing at equivalent herbage availability, but in other seasons there was no difference between the two methods of grazing. At equivalent levels of herbage availability liveweight gain was higher in early summer than in late summer. Herbage availability decreased linearly witilin each season and on average, rotational grazing resulted in increasingly greater herbage availability than continuous grazing, as stocking rate was increased on Coastcross. However, no difference between the two grazing methods was evident on kikuyu. Finally, the relationship between liveweight gain and stocking rate was also described by a linear function. On average, the stocking rate at which maximum liveweight gain per ha occurred (SRmax) was higher for rotational grazing than continuous grazing on Coastcross, but not on kikuyu. However, no difference was evident between the two grazing methods in each season. During the study period annual rainfall varied from 506 mm to 990 mm. This offered a unique opportunity to examine the relation between some of the pasture production parameters measured and annual rainfall. The length of the grazing season and SRmax increased, but liveweight gain of animals at SRmax declined as annual rainfall increased. This caused seasonal liveweight gain at SRmax to increase initially, but then to reach a maximum and decrease as annual rainfall increased from 500 to 1000 mm. From this information it was possible to build two models which can be used to predict liveweight gain per ha and profit per ha from stocking rate and annual rainfall. These models can either be built into farm planning programmes or used directly by agricultural advisors. In tl1is thesis they have been used to show that there is a wide range in stocking rates and levels of annual rainfall within which it is possible to make substantial profits by grazing young beef animals on dryland pastures. This study has therefore provided forceful information which can be used to persuade farmers to make more use of planted pastures, and in so doing, conserve the veld.
An evaluation of irrigated ryegrass/clover pastures for fat lamb production in the Highland Sourveld of Natal.
(1986) Du Plessis, Thomas Marius.; Bransby, David Ian.
The primary objective of this study was to increase net farm income in the Highland Sourveld of Natal by developing pasture based fat lamb production systems. Secondary objectives included (a) determination of the most suitable pasture species or species mixture; (b) determination of the optimum level of N fertilization; (c) establishment of biological and economic optimum stocking rates; (d) projection of expected profit and (e) verification of proposals on a farm scale. Midmar Italian ryegrass was compared to selected legumes alone, and in mixtures with ryegrass in a small plot trial conducted over two years at a 3- and 6-week harvesting frequency under irrigation. Ryegrass in combination with red and white clover provided the highest yields for both harvesting intervals in both years. When this pasture was subsequently compared to ryegrass alone under grazing, no significant difference could be detected in lamb gains at 20 and 28 ewe-lamb units/ha, but at 36 ewe-lamb units/ha the lambs on ryegrass started losing weight at 30 kg, while those on ryegrass + clover continued to gain until a market weight of 40 kg was achieved. In a small plot trial little response was detected to added N above 175 kg N/ha on ryegrass + clover, and under grazing, no significant difference was observed between 275; 375 and 4,75 kg N/ha over two single year periods. Relationships between average daily gain (ADG) and stocking rate, ADG and disc meter height, and stocking rate and disc meter height were mostly well described by linear functions. Expected pre-weaning AOG was 150 g higher (p ≤ 0,01) than post-weaning ADG (100 g) in the first year, and a similar difference was observed in the second year. For the period common to all stocking rates an average maximum gain/ha of 824 kg was achieved at a stocking rate of 33,5 lambs/ha and a disc meter height of 4,5 cm. By lambing in April, lambs could be marketed in September at 40 kg and more weaned lambs could be grazed on the pasture and marketed in December, leading to an expected gain/ha of 1400 to 2200 kg, and expected profit/ha of R 1254 to R 2771, depending on stocking rate. When evaluated under farm conditions, this system produced 2060 kg live weight/ha and a profit of R 3206/ha. It is concluded from the present study that the fat lamb production system based on irrigated ryegrass + clover pastures can be recommended with confidence to farmers in the Highland Sourveld of Natal.