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Brush Clearing on Hill Land Pasture with Sheep and Goats

Brush Clearing on Hill Land Pasture with Sheep and Goats Much hill land pasture in the Appalachians is brush infested. Reclamation procedures which are low cost and require low input are needed to provide hill land pasture owners with ways to maintain production on these lands. A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of grazing either sheep (Ovis sp.) or goats (Capra sp.) separately or in combination for brush clearing on hill land pasture. Cutting or herbicide followed by grazing with sheep or goats were also compared. The experiment was conducted on a 1.8 ha powerline right of way for five years (1986 to 1990). Goats reduced brush cover from 45% to just over 15% in one year. Sheep took 3 years to bring about the same result. Cutting and herbicide application increased animal effectiveness, primarily that of sheep, but increased costs. Three year variable costs for brush clearing with goats were estimated at $33 ha‐1, sheep cost was $262 ha‐1, while cutting costs were $133 and herbicide $593 ha‐1. Brush was cleared more cost effectively and rapidly by goats, but at the end of 5 years all treatments reduced brush cover to 2%. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science Wiley

Brush Clearing on Hill Land Pasture with Sheep and Goats

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References (13)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0931-2250
eISSN
1439-037X
DOI
10.1111/j.1439-037X.1995.tb00188.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Much hill land pasture in the Appalachians is brush infested. Reclamation procedures which are low cost and require low input are needed to provide hill land pasture owners with ways to maintain production on these lands. A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of grazing either sheep (Ovis sp.) or goats (Capra sp.) separately or in combination for brush clearing on hill land pasture. Cutting or herbicide followed by grazing with sheep or goats were also compared. The experiment was conducted on a 1.8 ha powerline right of way for five years (1986 to 1990). Goats reduced brush cover from 45% to just over 15% in one year. Sheep took 3 years to bring about the same result. Cutting and herbicide application increased animal effectiveness, primarily that of sheep, but increased costs. Three year variable costs for brush clearing with goats were estimated at $33 ha‐1, sheep cost was $262 ha‐1, while cutting costs were $133 and herbicide $593 ha‐1. Brush was cleared more cost effectively and rapidly by goats, but at the end of 5 years all treatments reduced brush cover to 2%.

Journal

Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science – Wiley

Published: Feb 1, 1995

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