Contribution of forage production systems to small ruminant profitability

Abstract Text: Improving forage utilization is a key consideration in increasing production efficiency and decreasing the cost of production in a small ruminant farming systems. In much of North America, winter dormancy and to a lesser extent, slow growth in mid-summer, create barriers in both forage availability and quality in perennial-based grazing/forage production systems for small ruminants.  In order to better understand how to optimize forage systems for sheep production in the upper Midwest USA, a series of grazing studies were conducted with sheep over a 3 year period to examine forage utilization, animal performance and cost of production on annual, short-term perennial and perennial pastures.  These pastures were evaluated as part of a 3 year pasture rotation system and compared to a perennial only system.  This rotation was established in year 1 by converting perennial pastures to annual crops between after attaining approximately 60% of historical seasonal biomass production (mid June conversion).  Annual crops evaluated included warm season grasses, brassicas and their mixtures.   In year 2 a short-term perennial pasture consisting of red clover, ryegrass and chicory was established in early spring into the annual forage residue from year 1.   In late summer of year 3, a perennial pasture was reestablished.  The perennial pasture used as a base of comparison consisted of a mixture of alfalfa, endophyte free tall fescue and orchard grass. Animal performance on these pastures and within these systems was measured by the growth performance of lambs post weaning expressed on a lamb (g/day) and land basis (kg/hectare).  Individual lamb gains on brassica (310 g/d) and short-term perennial (278 g/d) pastures approached that of the same genotype fed a concentrate diet fed in confinement (330 g/d).  On a land basis, seasonal gains on short-term perennial pasture excelled (1430-1640 kg/ha) over other pastures.  The cost of lamb gain was calculated for each pasture ranking lowest to highest were short term perennial< perennial<brassica monocultures<brassica/warm season mixes<warm season monocultures.  In summary, complimentary pasture rotation systems offer value to small ruminant production by reducing the cost of gain, allowing opportunities for finishing on pasture, improving parasite management, improving soil health and overall system productivity and profitability. 

Keywords: sheep, goats, forages, grazing