Chapter 9: Glossary

Glossary

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Acceptability, Animal: Readiness with which animals select and eat a forage; sometimes used interchangeably to mean either palatability or voluntary intake.

Aftermath: Recovery growth of forage plants after harvesting by animal or machine.

Animal Day: One day's tenure feeding on range or pasture by one animal.

Animal Unit: One mature cow (454 kg) or the equivalent based upon average daily forage consumption of 12 kg dry matter per day.

Animal-Unit Conversion Factor: A numerical figure expressing the forage requirement of a particular kind or class of animal relative to the requirement for an animal unit. A conversion factor measures the amount of forage required to maintain an animal, but may not be applicable in determining stocking rates for range and pasture use for particular kinds of classes of animals because of different grazing preferences.

Animal-Unit Month (AUM): The amount of feed or forage required by an animal unit for one month.

Browsing: The defoliation of the above-ground parts of shrubs and trees by animals.

Canopy: The above-ground parts of a population of herbaceous plants, including connotations of the distri-bution and arrangement of the constituent plants and their parts.

Defoliation: The complete or partial removal of the above-ground plant parts, living or dead, by grazing animals or cutting machines.

Defoliation Interval: The time interval between successive defoliations of an area of sward or of individual plant units.

Degree of Defoliation: The ratio of the amount of herbage consumed to the original herbage mass.

Frequency of Defoliation: The number of defoliations per unit time of an area of sward or of individual plant units.

Rate of Defoliation: Herbage consumed per unit of time during a period of defoliation.

Uniformity of Defoliation: A qualitative term describing the distribution of the mass of residual herbage between adjacent areas of sward or individual plant units.

Forage Quality: Characteristics that make forage valuable to animals as a source of nutrients; the combination of chemical, biochemical, physical, and organoleptic characteristics of forage that determines its potential to produce animal meat, milk, wool, or work. Considered by some as synonymous with feeding value and nutritive value.

Forb: Any herbaceous non-grasslike plant on which animals feed.

Fouled: Pasture spots or areas made unacceptable to the grazing animal by the presence of urine or dung.

Graze: Partial defoliation of forage plants by the animal; to feed animals on growing grass or herbage; to for-age.

Grazing, Continuous: The grazing of a specific range or pasture by livestock throughout a year or grazing season. The term is not necessarily synonymous with year-long grazing.

Grazing, Creep: The practice of allowing young animals (lambs or calves) to graze an area which their dams cannot reach.

Grazing Cycle: The length of time between the beginning of one grazing and the beginning of the next (= grazing period + rest period).

Grazing, Deferred: Delay or discontinuance of livestock grazing on an area for an adequate period of time to provide for plant reproduction, establishment of new plants, or restoration of vigour.

Grazing, Mixed: The use of cattle and sheep in a common grazing system, whether or not the 2 species graze the same area of land at the same time.

Grazing Period: The length of time for which a particular area of land is grazed.

Grazing Pressure: Number of animals per unit area of available forage.

Grazing, Rest-rotation: Intensive system of management whereby grazing is deferred on various parts of the range during succeeding years, allowing the deferred part complete rest for one year; 2 or more units are required.

Grazing, Rotational: System of pasture utilization embracing periods of heavy stocking followed by periods of rest for herbage growth recovery during the same season.

Grazing, Strip (Ration Grazing): Confining animals to an area of forage to be consumed in a short period of time, usually a day.

Hard Seed: With a seed coat impervious to the water or oxygen necessary for germination; common in legume seed; germination improved by scarification.

Herbage: Leaves, stems, and other succulent parts of forage plants upon which animals feed.

Herbage Allowance: The weight of herbage per unit of animal live weight at a point in time.

Herbage Consumed: The mass of herbage removed per unit area by the animals at a single grazing or series of grazings.

Herbage, Residual: The herbage remaining after defoliation.

Native Grass: Grass species indigenous to an area; not introduced from another environment or area.

Paddock: Small fenced field used for grazing purposes.

Palatable: A general term describing the discrimination exerted by animals between areas of sward or the components of a sward canopy, and between or within samples of cut herbage.

Pasture: A population of herbaceous plants, usually bounded by a fence, considered as a functional unit for grazing.

Pasture Carrying Capacity: Number of animals a given pasture will support at a given time or for a given period of time.

Pasture, Cropland: Includes rotation pasture and other land used only for pasture but that could be used for crops without additional improvements. Preferred to "rotation pasture".

Pasture, Permanent: Pasture of perennial or self-seeding annual plants maintained through several years for grazing.

Preference: A general term describing the discrimination exerted by animals between areas of sward or the components of a sward canopy, and between or within samples of cut herbage.

Put-and-Take Animals: Used in a grazing experiment to graze excess forage beyond that needed for tester animals and to accumulate animal days.

Rejuvenation: Accomplished by soil-plant-animal management practices favourable to forage plants.

Rest Period: The length of time between the end of one grazing and the start of the next on a particular area.

Selection: The removal of some components of a sward or a sample of herbage rather than others, a function of preference modified by the opportunity for selection.

Set Stocking: The practice of allowing a fixed number of animals unrestricted access to a fixed area of land for a substantial part of a grazing season.

Sod: Top few centimeters of soil permeated by and held together with grass roots or grass-legume roots.

Stocking, Continuous: The practice of allowing animals unrestricted access to an area of land for the whole or a substantial part of a grazing season.

Stocking Density: The number of animals of a specified class per unit area of land actually being grazed at a point in time.

Stockpiled: Accumulated growth of forage for later use.

Sward: A population of herbaceous plants, characterized by a relatively short habit of growth and relatively continuous ground cover, including both above- and below-ground parts.

Topdressing: Application of fertilizer anytime after establishment of a crop.

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Related Links

... on forages and pastures, visit Forages and Pastures (OMAF)
... on weed control, order Publication 75 Guide to Weed Control: Forage Crops
... on agronomy for field crops, order Pub. 811 Agronomy Guide for Field Crops: Chapter 5 Forages
... on field crop protection, order Publication 812, Field Crop Protection Guide
... on livestock, visit Livestock (OMAF)

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