Browsing by Author "Gobilik J"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Evolution in configuration and productivity of new zealand hill country sheep and beef cattle systems
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-06-08) Gobilik J; Morris ST; Matthew C; Adriana B
    Metabolic energy budgeting (MEB) was used to evaluate evolution over 30 years (1980–1981 to 2010–2011) in New Zealand southern North Island ‘hill country’ sheep and beef cattle systems. MEB calculates energy required by animals for body weight maintenance, weight gain or loss, pregnancy, and lactation to estimate the system feed demand and thereby provide a basis for calculating feed conversion efficiency. Historic production systems were reconstructed and modeled using averaged data from industry surveys and data from owners’ diaries of three case-study farms and reviewed for patterns of change over time. The modeling indicated that pasture productivity was 11% lower and herbage harvested was 14% lower in 2010–2011 than in the early 1980s. This productivity decline is attributable to warmer, drier summer weather in recent years. However, primarily through increased lambing percentage, feed conversion efficiency based on industry data improved over the study period from 25 to 19 kg feed consumed per kg lamb weaned, while meat production rose from 137 to 147 kg per ha per year. Similar improvements were observed for the three case farms. The New Zealand MEB model was found effective for analysis of tropical beef production systems in Sabah, Malaysia.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Feed profile analysis of oil palm-integrated beef cattle farming systems by metabolic energy budgeting and implications for beef production and pastoral system design
    (John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Chinese Grassland Society and Lanzhou University, 2023-04-17) Gobilik J; Baco H; Kabul MA; Dollah S; Morris ST; Matthew C; Nan Z
    Background: Oil palm is a tropical crop with worldwide plantings approaching 20 million ha and large areas in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The plantations are readily managed as silvopastoral systems incorporating cattle grazing (Oil Palm Silvopastoral System for Cattle, OPSC) but there is a need for analytical tools and data to understand system herbage supply and feed conversion efficiency (FCE). Methods: Metabolic energy budgeting was used to estimate herbage harvested by cattle in three OPSC subsystems, 9 and 12 years after oil palm establishment, and FCE of the subsystems was determined. Understorey herbage was also analysed for nutritive value, botanical composition and herbage accumulation within one grazing-regrowth cycle. Results: The herbage-harvested estimate was 2.0−2.4 t dry matter (DM) ha−1 year−1 for 9 year old subsystems and 1.4−1.7 t DM ha−1 year−1 for a 12 year old subsystem. Herbage metabolisable energy (ME) was 8.3−8.5 MJ kg−1 DM and crude protein (CP) was 15%−16% DM. FCE values for subsystems ranged from 32 to 94 kg DM kg−1 liveweight-gain. Conclusions: Herbage DM yield is declining, while herbage ME is marginal but CP is adequate. FCE is suboptimal but can be optimised by defining the trajectory of declining herbage production with canopy closure as plantations age and matching stocking rate to herbage supply using a comparative-stocking-rate-type statistic.