ABSTRACT
Livestock production is the most important value-added industry in the United States. Animal production characteristics can be exploited to significantly complement agroecosystems throughout the world. Integration of plant and animal resources to achieve optimal biomass output within a given ecological and socioeconomic setting should be the ultimate goal for sustainable farming systems. The most limiting resource for sustainable agricultural systems is the managerial ability necessary to develop and maintain an optimal level of enterprise diversification. Monocultural cropping systems are more commonly employed and generally less complex than mixed or integrated systems. Understanding and managing interactions among agroecosystem components provide challenge and opportunity to enhance output for integrated production systems. One of the most important biological relationships in the world is that between herbivores and forages.
