Heifer Performance on High Pastures and Digestibility of Pasture Grass

Abstract

In Italy about two thirds of the areas devoted to agriculture and forestry are located in mountain and hill zones (ISTAT, 1982). In the last thirty years these areas have been slowly abandoned. Among the possibilities to restore these areas to agriculture, the re-introduction of suckler herds of beef cattle could be of interest. This production system could be advantageous because of the availability of low cost grazing land but most Italian farmers lack knowledge of pastures and herd management. The present research has been to study some problems of pasture utilization in hill areas with beef cattle. In particular the chemical composition and nutritive value of a native pasture located on the Prealpine hills in the NE of Italy has been examined. At the same time the effects of rotation vs continuous grazing and of previous experience of heifers to grazing have been studied.