ABSTRACT

Management intensive grazing can be used in North America just as well as in New Zealand where pastures are allowed to reach their full productive potential. Andre Voisin was a Laureate Member of France's Academy of Agriculture, and held an Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Bonn, Germany. Grazing management can influence this rate by maintaining as green and leafy a sward as possible, so photosynthesis can occur continually, including immediately after grazing when the plant residue is very short in stature. When high levels of pasture mass are reached, net forage production decreases as pasture mass continues to increase. Recovery periods and occupation periods should work together so that the forage is at the right pasture mass or height when animals are turned into a paddock. High stocking density, coupled with quick, close grazing of a paddock and removal of animals until plants recover simulates what happened under natural conditions of regeneration.