Rangeland grazing to improve farm performance. Example for an extensive meat sheep farming system
2011
M., Jouven | D., Foulquié | M., Benoît
The objective of our study was to investigate with bio-technical and economic simulations, whether recognising the diversity of rangeland resources and re-organising reproductive and feeding management in consequence could improve the performance of extensive meat sheep systems. We used data from an experimental farm (INRA La Fage, Larzac plateau, southern France) to build a virtual case study. The farm comprises a flock of 330 ewes with high potential productivity (Romane breed, prolificacy more than 240 percent), reared outdoors in a harsh environment: 280 ha of rangelands of which 18 ha have been long fertilized. We applied changes in flock management (1st lambing at 2 years, lambing date matching grass growth) and grazing management (function of each paddock, adapted paddock size, timing and intensity of utilisation over the year). Based on model predictions, the new system is more sustainable, with a higher net income (plus 40 percent) and a lower consumption of non renewable energy (-29 percent). These changes are explained mainly by a higher proportion of grazed forage (0.73 compared to 0.56 of total dry matter consumption, i.e. plus 30 percent), especially on rangelands ( plus 50 percent), which reduces the energy and money needed to supply the flock with conserved forage and concentrate. The simulation results need to be validated with field data. A better knowledge of rangeland-based system is required to improve model calibration.
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