The Effect of Kurzrasen and Strip-Grazing on Grassland Performance and Soil Quality of a Peat Meadow

Nyncke Hoekstra, Gertjan Holshof, René Schils, Bert Philipsen, Kees van Reenen, Karel van Houwelingen and Nick van Eekeren
Additional contact information
Nyncke Hoekstra: Louis Bolk Institute, Kosterijland 3–5, 3981 AJ Bunnik, The Netherlands
Gertjan Holshof: Animal Nutirition, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
René Schils: Agrosystems Research, Wageningen Plant Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
Bert Philipsen: Animal Nutirition, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
Kees van Reenen: Animal Health & Welfare, Wageningen Livestock Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
Karel van Houwelingen: KTC Zegveld, Oude Meije 18, 3474 KM Zegveld, The Netherlands
Nick van Eekeren: Louis Bolk Institute, Kosterijland 3–5, 3981 AJ Bunnik, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: Due to the increased herd size in the Netherlands, there is need to assess the performance of different grazing systems at high stocking densities. The objective of the current experiment was to assess the effect of two extreme grazing systems, kurzrasen (continuous grazing at 3–5 cm sward height) and strip-grazing at a high stocking rate, on grass production and quality, grass morphology and sward density, root development and load bearing capacity on peat soil. To this end, a two-year grazing trial with four herds of 15 cows on 2 ha each was conducted. Kurzrasen showed 18% lower herbage dry matter production on average compared to strip-grazing. The yield penalty of using a shorter regrowth period under kurzrasen was limited due to the strong response in grass morphology, resulting in a dense and lamina-rich sward. There was a small decline in root density at 10 cm soil depth, but no evidence of a lower root density at 20 cm soil depth for kurzrasen compared to strip-grazing. Sward density was higher for kurzrasen compared to strip-grazing, which had a positive impact on load bearing capacity. This is an important feature on peat soils, where load bearing capacity is often limited.

Keywords: grazing systems; swards; load bearing capacity; root density; nutritional value (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6283/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6283/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:22:p:6283-:d:285008

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().