What does the use of pastures in livestock farming provide?

The article raises questions about the value of keeping cattle on pasture, compares stall and pasture systems, analyzes technologies for producing livestock products. It discusses the rational use of pasture lands, which increases productivity and reduces the cost of production, extends the lifespan of animals.

Pros and cons of pasture and stall feeding systems

Experienced Russian livestock farmers, gathering at various national and international forums, invariably raise the issue of using pastures for breeding cattle, speaking about the advantages of pasture-based livestock farming over stall feeding. They raise this timely issue due to harsh statistics indicating a decline in cattle herd numbers, reduced animal lifespan, leading to a drop in milk yield. In Russian agricultural lands, about 42% are pastures. Their irrational use and low utilization (10-15%) lead to reduced quality of agricultural products.

Russian agrarians make a significant contribution to the stability of the domestic economy and are engaged in supplying the food market with sufficient quantities of quality products. Currently, production indicators are too low, forcing them to seek solutions to this problem. It is precisely the figures and obvious problems for specialists that compel them to look to international experience and raise the question of fully utilizing pasture lands.

In accordance with international and domestic experience, dairy and meat livestock farming develop effectively in regions where pasture lands occupy the majority of agricultural land, where the natural pasture season is extended.

Advantages and disadvantages of using traditional animal husbandry methods in all types of livestock farming:

• pasture-based — low feed cost, active movement, presence of beneficial elements, animal health improvement, increased productivity and longevity. Among the disadvantages — pasture condition (excessive grazing negatively affects it), seasonality of use;
• stall-based — used in regions with large areas of cultivated land, possibility of year-round feeding. During summer, the herd is kept on the farm, while in winter, animals are turned out twice a day. Disadvantages — high feed cost, use of green feed only as supplementary feed, high cost of final product.

Both methods involve the additional inclusion of special supplementary feeds in the animals' diet, which increase daily milk yield.

Organization of pastures

Pasture organization is relevant both now and in the future, as it is planned to maximize its use. Rising costs of machinery, agricultural equipment, energy resources, feed, etc. make the use of cultivated pastures the most profitable and justified investment.

Specialists identify the lack of labor force due to the small rural population and insufficient or poor-quality feed as the main reasons for low livestock productivity in Russia. During pasture formation, specialists plan to use innovative technologies for their creation. Methods preserving natural resources of territories will be applied, and annual pastures will be converted into perennial ones, and self-renewing grazing areas will be obtained.

By fulfilling current tasks, livestock workers will ensure selective consumption of desired grass types by animals, continuous, non-forced movement in nature. Due to the benefits of this method, the gene pool will be preserved, providing significant potential for the herd. This allows creating special meat and dairy breeds, such as Aberdeen Angus breed, developed in Scotland — a country where pastures have been used for grazing since ancient times.

In conclusion, it should be said about rational use of existing pastures in the country, which will increase animal productivity, extend their lifespan, make Russian livestock products competitive and in demand on the global market.

Source: https://okorovah.ru/