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Livestock grazing comparison is a method of comparing the numbers and density of
livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...
grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...
in
agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
. Various units of measurement are used, usually based on the grazing equivalent of one adult
cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...
, or in some areas on that of one sheep. Many different schemes exist, giving various values to the grazing effect of different types of animal.


Use

Livestock grazing comparison units are used for assessing the overall effect on grazing land of different types of animals (or of mixtures of animals), expressed either as a total for a whole field or farm, or as units per
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
(ha) or
acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
. For example, using UK government Livestock Units (LUs) from the 2003 scheme a particular pasture field might be able to support 15 adult cattle or 25 horses or 100 sheep: in that scheme each of these would be regarded as being 15 LUs, or 1.5 LUs per hectare (about 0.6 LUs per acre). Different species (and breeds) of livestock do not all graze in the same way, and this is also taken into account when deciding the appropriate number of units for grazing land. For example, horses naturally graze unevenly, eating short grass areas first and only grazing longer turf if there is insufficient short grass; cattle graze longer grass preferentially, tending to produce a uniform sward; goats tend to browse shrubs if these are available. As these feeding styles are complementary, a pasture may therefore support slightly more units of mixed species than of each species separately. Another consequence of different grazing styles is variation between species in the number of units that can lead to
overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...
– for example, horses may overgraze the short parts of a pasture even when taller grass is still available. Livestock grazing comparison units are used by many governments to measure and control the intensity of farming. For example, until 2004 the UK Government had an extensification scheme which paid additional
subsidy A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acc ...
to farmers who kept their livestock at less than an average of 1.4 LUs per hectare.''Cattle Scheme Literature: Notes for Guidance 2003'', UK Rural Payments Agency, 2003 (pp 11 & 25)


Schemes

Although different schemes have similar aims, they vary in complexity and detail. For example, some schemes give no value to a young calf, but an additional value to a cow together with her calf at foot. Some give values to different-sized animals of the same species, or different values to the same species in different regions. Most schemes use a calculation based on the weight of the animal. Some use figures for animals of different sizes which are directly proportional to their weight – for example the 2006 UK Government scheme uses a figure for ruminants of the animal's weight (in kilograms) divided by 650. Others include an adjustment for the proportionally higher metabolic rate of smaller animals, according to
Kleiber's law Kleiber's law, named after Max Kleiber for his biology work in the early 1930s, states, after many observations that, for a vast number of animals, an animal's Basal Metabolic Rate scales to the power of the animal's mass. More precisely : posi ...
, which states that the metabolic rate of most animals varies according to their weight raised to the power of approximately 0.75. For example, the
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...
's Tropical Livestock Unit is based on the weight of the animal raised to the power of 0.75, compared with the equivalent figure for a "tropical cow" of . The following is a summary of some schemes in common use, using the most closely comparable categories:


Central Europe

The size of a livestock farm in Central Europe was traditionally given in ''Stößen'' (singular: ''Stoß'') This unit of measurement was subsequently replaced by the grazing livestock unit or ''Großvieheinheit'' (GV).


''Stoß''

The ''Stoß'' is a unit of cattle stock density used in the
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
. For each Alm or Alp it is worked out how many ''Stoß'' (Swiss: ''Stössen'') can be grazed ''(bestoßen)''; one cow equals one ''Stoß'', 3 bulls equal 2 ''Stöße'', a calf is  ''Stoß'', a horse of 1, 2 or 3 years old is worth 1, 2 or 3 ''Stöße'', a pig equals , a goat or a sheep is  ''Stoß''. In Switzerland a ''Normalstoß'' is defined as a ''Großvieheinheit'' that is "summered" for 100 days. For small livestock there are corresponding conversions. Depending on the quality of the Alp or Alm a full ''Stoß'' may require between 1/2  ha and 2 ha. The ''Stoß'' is divided into feet or ''Füße''. A full ''Stoß'' is the pasture required by a cow, and equals 4 ''Füße''. Bulls, calves, etc., are a fraction of that, e.g. a one-year old bull needs 2 ''Füße''.


''Großvieheinheit''

A ''Großvieheinheit'' (GV or GVE) is a conversion key used to compare different farm animals on the basis of their live weight. A ''Großvieheinheit'' represents 500 kilogrammes (roughly the weight of an adult bull). In the wild it excludes small animals like amphibians and insects, but is used for game in forestry and hunting. Examples are: * Calf 50–100 kg = 0.1–0.2 GV * Young milk cow 450–650 kg = 0.9–1.3 GV * Milk cow = 1 GV *
Horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...
= 0.8–1.5 GV *
Boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
= 0.3 GV *
Domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...
= 0.12 GV * Piglet = 0.01 GV *
Sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
= 0.1 GV * 100
Chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
s = 0.8–1 GV * 320 egg-laying
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
s = 1 GV A more precise unit is the "fodder-consuming livestock unit" or '' Raufutter verzehrende Großvieheinheit'' (RGV), which corrects the value above based on the demands of a given species and direct, near-natural supply of food (fibre-rich
roughage Dietary fiber (fibre in Commonwealth English) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition and can be grouped generally b ...
) without concentrates. The "tropical livestock unit" or (''tropische Vieheinheit'') or TLU is based on a live weight of 250 kg.


Aquaculture and hunting

Analogous units are : * Fish population (''Fischbesatz'') in
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
, is a measure of the stock of fish in a waterbody * Game population (''Wildbesatz''), in
hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
is the stock of game in a reserve''Besatz, Begriffsunterteilung''.
duden.de


References

{{Reflist


External links



Livestock Agricultural research Equivalent units