Seasonal variations of fodder quality and availability as constraints for stocking rates in year-round grazing schemes

Year-round grazing by free-roaming herds of cattle and horses is increasingly applied for conservation management of grasslands. In such grazing schemes, periods of fodder shortage can occur in winter and early spring, but supplementary feeding is usually avoided. Hence, stocking rates have to be adjusted precisely to seasonal fodder availability for animal welfare reasons. We investigated the seasonal changes of biomass quantity and quality at...