Climate-impacts on autumn lamb weight
2014
Lind, V | Nielsen, A
Year to year variation in weather conditions might affect lamb growth in different ways. The climate conditions might affect the animals directly, through increased stress levels and altered grazing behaviour. The main effect however, is expected to be indirect, through climate affecting the quantity and quality of the vegetation. Furthermore, previous studies indicate that the climate effect on lamb growth depend on the area under study. In Norway, lambs are born indoor in the spring (April and early May) and left out on pasture for grazing until slaughter in September when the lambs are five to six month of age. In this paper, we sum up results from three surveys performed on lambs grazing on mountain pastures in southern and northern parts of Norway. Study I and II include 83,331 and 38,587 lambs, respectively, during the years 1992 to 2007. Study III includes 8,696 lambs during the years 1983 to 2002.The results indicate that snow depth during the previous winter, precipitation and temperature in spring and summer affect lamb autumn body weight either positively or negatively. The effects are not consistent between study areas. We found a positive effect of early spring plant growth, an earlier spring resulting in heavier lambs in the autumn. Climate change effect studies are complex; however, by use of long-term databases, it is possible to reveal long-term trends. By use of climate statistics, satellite derived vegetation data and agricultural statistics, we have been able to show how climate changes might influence autumn weight for lambs in Norway. Our results might alter rec- ommendations for sheep management during summer grazing
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