Start Date
10-26-2021 8:30 AM
Description
Pasture‐based livestock production is an integrated process. Plants intercept solar energy, take up soil water and minerals, making carbohydrates and proteins to feed themselves. Animals graze the pasture. Microbes in the animal’s rumen digest the forage and are then digested by the animal to provide energy, protein, and minerals for animal maintenance, growth, and milk production. Dead plant tops and roots along with manure and urine provide energy and protein to soil organisms. The soil organisms maintain soil pore space and structure, provide water infiltration and soil water holding capacity, and cycle nutrients into forms that can be taken up by plants. The majority of minerals are cycled back to the soil in dead plant material and manure and urine from the animals. These nutrients are then used to grow another flush of pasture.
The interplay of sunlight, plants, soil, and animals are parts of pasture ecology. Livestock producers who understand pasture ecology are prepared to be better managers since they understand how the system works and how to adapt to change and apply research and experience from other farms to their farm. This introduction to pasture ecology will discuss components of the pasture ecosystem: plants, animals, soil, and climate from an energy flow and nutrient cycling perspective.
Included in
Introduction to Pasture Ecology
Pasture‐based livestock production is an integrated process. Plants intercept solar energy, take up soil water and minerals, making carbohydrates and proteins to feed themselves. Animals graze the pasture. Microbes in the animal’s rumen digest the forage and are then digested by the animal to provide energy, protein, and minerals for animal maintenance, growth, and milk production. Dead plant tops and roots along with manure and urine provide energy and protein to soil organisms. The soil organisms maintain soil pore space and structure, provide water infiltration and soil water holding capacity, and cycle nutrients into forms that can be taken up by plants. The majority of minerals are cycled back to the soil in dead plant material and manure and urine from the animals. These nutrients are then used to grow another flush of pasture.
The interplay of sunlight, plants, soil, and animals are parts of pasture ecology. Livestock producers who understand pasture ecology are prepared to be better managers since they understand how the system works and how to adapt to change and apply research and experience from other farms to their farm. This introduction to pasture ecology will discuss components of the pasture ecosystem: plants, animals, soil, and climate from an energy flow and nutrient cycling perspective.