science

Livestock grazing comparison

Livestock grazing comparison is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Livestock grazing comparison rather than just read about it. In short: Livestock grazing comparison is a method of comparing the numbers and density of livestock grazing in agriculture. Various units of measurement are used, usually based on the grazing equivalent of one adult cow, or in some areas on that of one sheep.

Key takeaways

Livestock grazing comparison belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Livestock grazing comparison to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Livestock grazing comparison from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Livestock grazing comparison is a method of comparing the numbers and density of livestock grazing in agriculture. Various units of measurement are used, usually based on the grazing equivalent of one adult cow, or in some areas on that of one sheep. Many different schemes exist, giving various values to the grazing effect of different types of animal.

Use Livestock grazing comparison units are used for assessing the overall effect on grazing land of different types of animals (or of mixtures of animals), expressed either as a total for a whole field or farm, or as units per hectare (ha) or acre. For example, using UK government Livestock Units (LUs) from the 2003 scheme a particular 10 ha (25-acre) pasture field might be able to support 15 adult cattle or 25 horses or 100 sheep: in that scheme each of these would be regarded as being 15 LUs, or 1.5 LUs per hectare (about 0.6 LUs per acre). Different species (and breeds) of livestock do not all graze in the same way, and this is also taken into account when deciding the appropriate number of units for grazing land. For example, horses naturally graze unevenly, eating short grass areas first and only grazing longer turf if there is insufficient short grass; cattle graze longer grass preferentially, tending to produce a uniform sward; goats tend to browse shrubs if these are available. As these feeding styles are complementary, a pasture may therefore support slightly more units of mixed species than of each species separately. Another consequence of different grazing styles is variation between species in the number of units that can lead to overgrazing – for example, horses may overgraze the short parts of a pasture even when taller grass is still available. Livestock grazing comparison units are used by many governments to measure and control the intensity of farming. For example, until 2004 the UK Government had an extensification scheme which paid additional subsidy to farmers who kept their livestock at less than an average of 1.4 LUs per hectare.

Schemes Although different schemes have similar aims, they vary in complexity and detail. For example, some schemes give no value to a young calf, but an additional value to a cow together with her calf at foot. Some give values to different-sized animals of the same species, or different values to the same species in different regions. Most schemes use a calculation based on the weight of the animal. Some use figures for animals of different sizes which are directly proportional to their weight – for example the 2006 UK Government scheme uses a figure for ruminants of the animal's weight (in kilograms) divided by 650. Others include an adjustment for the proportionally higher metabolic rate of smaller animals, according to Kleiber's law, which states that the metabolic rate of most animals varies according to their weight raised to the power of approximately 0.75. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization's Tropical Livestock Unit is based on the weight of the animal raised to the power of 0.75, compared with the equivalent figure for a "tropical cow" of 250 kg (550 lb). The following is a summary of some schemes in common use, using the most closely comparable categories:

Central Europe The size of a livestock farm in Central Europe was traditionally given in Stößen (singular: Stoß) This unit of measurement was subsequently replaced by the grazing livestock unit or Großvieheinheit (GV).

Stoß The Stoß is a unit of cattle stock density used in the Alps. For each Alm or Alp it is worked out how many Stoß (Swiss: Stössen) can be grazed (bestoßen); one cow equals one Stoß, 3 bulls equal 2 Stöße, a calf is 1⁄4 Stoß, a horse of 1, 2 or 3 years old is worth 1, 2 or 3 Stöße, a pig equals 1⁄4, a goat or a sheep is 1⁄5 Stoß. In Switzerland a Normalstoß is defined as a Großvieheinheit that is "summered" for 100 days. For small livestock there are corresponding conversions. Depending on the quality of the Alp or Alm a full Stoß may require between 1/2 ha and 2 ha. The Stoß is divided into feet or Füße. A full Stoß is the pasture required by a cow, and equals 4 Füße. Bulls, calves, etc., are a fraction of that, e.g. a one-year old bull needs 2 Füße.

Großvieheinheit A Großvieheinheit (GV or GVE) is a conversion key used to compare different farm animals on the basis of their live weight. A Großvieheinheit represents 500 kilogrammes (roughly the weight of an adult bull). In the wild it excludes small animals like amphibians and insects, but is used for game in forestry and hunting. Examples are:

Calf 50–100 kg = 0.1–0.2 GV Young milk cow 450–650 kg = 0.9–1.3 GV Milk cow = 1 GV Horse = 0.8–1.5 GV Boar = 0.3 GV Domestic pig = 0.12 GV Piglet = 0.01 GV Sheep = 0.1 GV 100 Chickens = 0.8–1 GV 320 egg-laying chickens = 1 GV A more precise unit is the "fodder-consuming livestock unit" or Raufutter verzehrende Großvieheinheit (RGV), which corrects the value above based on the demands of a given species and direct, near-natural supply of food (fibre-rich roughage) without concentrates. The "tropical livestock unit" or (tropische Vieheinheit) or TLU is based on a live weight of 250 kg.

Aquaculture and hunting Analogous units are :

Fish population (Fischbesatz) in fishing, is a measure of the stock of fish in a waterbody Game population (Wildbesatz), in hunting is the stock of game in a reserve

References

External links FAO discussion paper, explaining relationship between LSU, UBT and UGB.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Livestock grazing comparison

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Livestock grazing comparison claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Livestock grazing comparison before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Livestock grazing comparison ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Livestock grazing comparison

In research: Livestock grazing comparison appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Livestock grazing comparison in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Livestock grazing comparison is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Agricultural research, Equivalent units, Livestock, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Livestock grazing comparison outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Livestock grazing comparison” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Livestock grazing comparison in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Livestock grazing comparison means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Livestock grazing comparison out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Livestock grazing comparison in simple terms?

Why does Livestock grazing comparison matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Livestock grazing comparison?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Livestock grazing comparison.