Sustainable and Conventional Grazing Systems for Beef Steers

A conventional grazing and crop production system and a sustainable system with integrated grazing and crop production were compared in a farm-scale experiment. The objective was to improve sustainability through improved nutrient management and reduced off-farm chemical use while retaining productivity and profitability. Each system involved 48 steers per year and 32 hectares of crop and pasture land in four replications. Daily gains and final weights were higher (P\u3c0.05) for steers in the Sustainable System than the Conventional System but required more supplemental hay feeding. Initially, more forage was harvested from the Sustainable System, but as grazing management improved, more forage was harvested through grazing, and harvested forage became similar between the systems. Pesticide requirements were lower and N fertilizer use was reduced more than 50% for the Sustainable System. The Sustainable System maintained total crop and livestock production potential and was at least as profitable as the Conventional System