TheImprovement ofTropical and Subtropical Rangelands

GRAZING MANAGDIBNT
conditions by protecting plante during critical srowth periods, and
can improve livestock performance by eD.IUring that plante are utilised
at the best tim. and IOII18tim. even improving their quality
for livestock late in the grazing 1eUOJl.
Managing the range forage reIOurce becomes a lCience of balancing
the plants, their requiremente for growth, and the needs of
animals for nutriente that are belt supplied by immature plant tiesu..
Grazing progr&IDI that maximile animal benefite are mOlt
streaful to plants, and those that maximin plant growth are least
beneficial to animals. Design of gruing management progr&IDI must
consider the long-term maintenance requiremente of the forage baBe
and recognise that it may not be poEble to meet all of the nutritional
requiremente of livestock from the range. A Ifuing program
can, with neceaary nutritional supplementation, be deaiped for any
range to be productive of the right kind and number of livestock and
at less cost than production systems bued on other kinda offorag•.
MOlt Ifuing Prolf&IDI will need to be IUpported by a variety
of developments. Holdinl pea and corrals are nee:e.ary to confine
livestock for animal huebandry programa (fisure 6-8). Theee.trueturee
can be euily constructed of native bruah or new materiala IUch
as nylon m88h fencee that are easily portable. Dipping vate may be
required to control paruitel (fisure 6-9)i portable vate are commonly
WI8Cl bec&UIe they increue management flexibility. Water structuree
such as wella, catchmente, or sprinp are neceaary (flpn 6-10), and
theee can be placed in each pasture or at a central facility ifanimals
an clOle-herded. Fencee are required to confine animals to lpecific
puturee if herders are not ueed in a Ifuing system. If land control
and management do not exilt, however, fencing is a costly and futile
exerciM. Finally, accesa is needed for tr&D8pOrtation of IUppliel and
products.
U. of a gruing system may alter the Ipea. compolition of a
plant community. An increue in palatable plmt Ipeci. may permit
incnaBed 11M of the range reIOurce. Neverthel_, the benefits obtained
from improved grazing management practicee are nlatively
few compared with those poEble from manipulative rmge improv.
mente.
Long-duration grazing men to continuous gruing, when Hv.
stock are left in one putun for the full gruing .&IOIl, or for periods
of MVeral month8 to more than a year. The perioda of deferment
from Ifuing may al80 extend from .veral month8 to more than a