Decision Support System (DSS) for Managing a Beef Herd and Its Grazing Habitat’s Sustainability: Biological/Agricultural Basis of the Technology and Its Validation

Abstract

Grazing pasture quality and availability, and grazing animal performance, depend on ecological and weather conditions and grazing management. The latter can be improved by remote monitoring of animals and grazed forage. The aim of this study was to test the ability of a new remote-monitoring system to improve cow and pasture performance. The study used 20 collars for a herd of 40 cows, precision technology to monitor each collared cow’s location and activities 24 h per day, and herd-management system (HMS) software to optimize grazing-land and animal performance. The study covered 4 consecutive years of reproductive cycles and seasonal feed supplements. The selected forage’s metabolizable energy (ME) calculated by the HMS was significantly correlated with the ME calculated by fecal near-infrared spectroscopy analysis (rp = 0.91, p rp = 0.921, p < 0.01) was found.

Keywords

• remote monitoring
• pasture quality
• pasture biomass
• stocking rate
• grazing cows
• herd management and performance