Jones, R.

Kemp, David R.

Ma, Z. F.

Michalk, David L.

Takahashi, T.

Wu, J. P.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress Changing Farm Livestock and Grassland Management to Improve Profitability and Sustainability in Sunan County, Gansu Province, China Z. F. Ma Gansu Agricultural University, China J. P. Wu Gansu Agricultural University, China R. Jones Department of Primary Industries, Australia David L. Michalk Department of Primary Industries, Australia David R. Kemp Charles Sturt University, Australia See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/9-3/1 The 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. Presenter Information Z. F. Ma, J. P. Wu, R. Jones, David L. Michalk, David R. Kemp, and T. Takahashi This event is available at UKnowledge: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/9-3/1 瞯 ]118　 瞯 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems——— Livestock Production SystemsChanging farm livestock and grassland management to improve profitability and sustainability inSunan county ,Gansu province ,ChinaZ .F .Ma1 ,J .P .W u1 ,R .Jones2 ,D .M ichalk2 ,D .Kemp 3 ,T .Takahashi31 Faculty o f A nimal Science and Technology ,Gansu A gricultural University ,L anz hou 730070 ,China ,E‐mail : wuj p ＠ gsau .edu .cn .2 NSW Department o f Primary Industries ,Orange NSW 2800 ,A ustralia .3 Charles Sturt University ,Orange NSW2800 ,A ustralia .Key words :Gansu alpine fine wool sheep ,grazing ,greenhouse pen feed ,profitabilityIntroduction Sunan County is a Yugur Minority Autonomous County in Zhangye Prefecture of Gansu Province .It consists offour separate geographic areas all of which have a significant population of the Yugur Nationality .Farming Gansu alpine finewool sheep is the principal agricultural system .Sunan is an extremely mountainous region with altitudes ranging between １ ,３２７and ５ ,５６４ metres and an average annual temperature of ３ .６ ℃ .Sheep are conventionally grazed on winter and spring pasturesover the period ２０ October to ２０ May .The high stocking rates adopted by herders leads to significant grazing pressure ,resultingin pasture degradation ,a loss of desirable species and soil erosion .Ewes usually lamb in April .This is a time when there is alarge gap between the nutritional requirements of livestock and what can be supplied by pasture .The use of a greenhouse shedcould overcome many of the management and climatic problems in Sunan by reducing the effect of cold winds and the associatedloss in body weight to improve lamb survival .Materials and methods One hundred and eighty adult Gansu alpine fine wool ewes ( ２４ to ３６ months of age) ,３８ maiden Gansualpine fine wool ewes (１９ months of age) and ４０ Gansu alpine fine wool lambs (７ months of age) were used in a １５１ day grazingand greenhouse pen feeding experiment .The sheep were randomly divided into two balanced groups .The control group wasconventionally grazed ,and the experimental group was pen fed in a greenhouse shed with improved feeding ( Bowman &Stowell ,１９９７) .Animal measurements were taken monthly and the data analyzed using a t‐test assuming equal variance in eachgroup .Results and discussion Wool production and body weight change of the experimental group was higher ( p ＜ ０ .０１ ) than thecontrol group .Once feed ,labour and pen depreciation costs were included ,the average cost of experimental group was ０ .６３RMB sheep‐１ day‐１ ; the control group was ０ .１６ RMB sheep‐１ day‐１ .Af ter accounting for lamb survival ,body weight change andwool production ,the average net profit of the experimental group was ５８ .５０ RMB sheep‐１ and the control group was ３９ .６４RMB sheep‐１ .Figure 1 Body weight trends during the 15 day trial .Table 1 Wool p roduction and rep roduction perf ormance .Group Wool productivity ( kg ) Reproduction performance ( ％ )Adult ew es Maiden ew es Lambs Lamb Dead Abortion Survive Survive rate Weaning rate Dead ew esExperiment ５ �.２４ ± ０ .９７ ４  .５６ ± ０ .６８ ３ .７９ ± ０ .４９ ８７ ┅０ 汉０ 揶８７ P１００％ ９４ .９％ ０ 沣Control ３ �.２７ ± ０ .６３ ２  .６３ ± ０ .３１ ２ .５３ ± ０ .５１ ７７ ┅５ 汉６ 揶７２ P９４ 妸.６８％ ７８ l.０７％ ４ 沣Conclusions Introducing a greenhouse shed for pen feeding Gansu alpine fine wool sheep during cold seasons both improvedlivestock productivity and farmers�income .Furthermore ,this lead to a reduction of grazing pressure upon pastures and lead to amore sustainable use of the grassland resource .ReferenceBowman ,J .G .P . ,Sowell ,B .F . ,１９９７ .Delivery method and supplement consumption by grazing ruminants : a review .J .A nimalScience ７５ :５４３‐５５０ .

Changing Farm Livestock and Grassland Management to Improve Profitability and Sustainability in Sunan County, Gansu Province, China

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Changing Farm Livestock and Grassland Management to Improve Profitability and Sustainability in Sunan County, Gansu Province, China

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