Track 3-3-1: Sustainable Use of Tropical vis‐a‐vis Temperate Grasslands
Description
Dual-purpose cattle farms (DP) in México and in particular in the south west of the State of México are low input, based on tropical pastures under extensive management combined with fodder trees and shrubs that contributes to forage production during the dry season, where grasses are scarce. Farms land extension ranged from 30 to 300 hectares. The stoking rate is low with less than a cow per ha. There is only a perimetral fence, there is no pasture´s subdivision. Cows browse freely within the rangeland 24 h/d all year round. Cattle are predominantly Brow Swiss with small proportion of zebu cattle (Albarrán-Portillo et al., 2015). Twenty DP farms in the south west of the State of México were monitored since 2008 in order to assess their socio-economic aspects, animal´s productive performance, pasture productivity, biodiversity and species richness. Production and quality characteristics of forage resources in these types of farms are reported here.
Citation
Albarrán-Portillo, Benito; Arriaga-Jordan, C. M.; Salas Reyes, Isela G.; Mainar, Fernando Vicente; Martinez Fernandez, Adela; Nova, Francisca Aviles; and Rubio, Rolando Rojo, "Animal Production in a Subtropical Region of Mexico: Rangeland´s Productive Characteristics" (2020). IGC Proceedings (1997-2023). 5.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/23/3-3-1/5
Included in
Animal Production in a Subtropical Region of Mexico: Rangeland´s Productive Characteristics
Dual-purpose cattle farms (DP) in México and in particular in the south west of the State of México are low input, based on tropical pastures under extensive management combined with fodder trees and shrubs that contributes to forage production during the dry season, where grasses are scarce. Farms land extension ranged from 30 to 300 hectares. The stoking rate is low with less than a cow per ha. There is only a perimetral fence, there is no pasture´s subdivision. Cows browse freely within the rangeland 24 h/d all year round. Cattle are predominantly Brow Swiss with small proportion of zebu cattle (Albarrán-Portillo et al., 2015). Twenty DP farms in the south west of the State of México were monitored since 2008 in order to assess their socio-economic aspects, animal´s productive performance, pasture productivity, biodiversity and species richness. Production and quality characteristics of forage resources in these types of farms are reported here.
