Mixed‐species grazing offers a means to diversify livestock production systems for cool‐temperate regions typified by the Appalachian plateau of the USA. Our objective was to determine how mixed grazing influenced herbage and animal production, and sward botanical composition of three grazing systems including cattle and sheep. Three replicated systems were as follows: (A) cattle only with winter grazing; (B) cattle and sheep with winter grazing; and (C) cattle and sheep without winter grazing. Herbage mass and growth rate differed by grazing period; system C had the lowest growth rate and showed an interaction of system and grazing period. The proportion of grass in the sward differed by period, and the legume component was influenced by an interaction of system and period. Forbs and dead were influenced by period and sampling location. Herbage crude protein was not influenced by treatment. Herbage fiber components and lignin were consistently higher during the second grazing period. Steers performed similarly in all systems, but total gains varied with year. Lambs in the system without a winter grazing component were heavier than lambs in the system with a winter grazing component. Live weight gains were modest. Lamb fecal egg count was higher in the system with a winter grazing component; however, the fecal egg count per gram was relatively low throughout the experiment. Animal productivity differed with year and tended to be slightly greater for the system without a winter grazing component. Our findings suggest that livestock production systems that included mixed‐species grazing and extended‐season grazing practices contributed to desirable changes in botanical composition and improved herbage productivity patterns, especially in years with ample precipitation. The practices could be used to drive pasture composition by modifying relative abundance of various plant functional groups.

中文翻译：

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凉爽牧场的季节性混合放养

混合物种放牧为以美国阿巴拉契亚高原为代表的凉爽地区提供了多样化的畜牧生产系统。我们的目标是确定混合放牧如何影响牧草和动物生产，并确定包括牛和羊在内的三个放牧系统的植物组成。三种复制系统如下：（A）仅在冬季放牧的牛；（二）冬季放牧的牛羊；（C）没有冬季放牧的牛和羊。放牧期不同，牧草质量和生长率也不同。系统C的生长速度最低，表现出系统与放牧期的相互作用。草地中草的比例因时期而异，并且豆科植物的成分受系统和时期相互作用的影响。前叉和死角受周期和采样位置的影响。草本粗蛋白不受处理的影响。在第二次放牧期间，草本纤维成分和木质素一直较高。all牛在所有系统中的表现相似，但总收益随年份而变化。没有冬季放牧成分的系统中的羔羊比具有冬季放牧成分的系统中的羔羊重。活体重增加不大。带有冬季放牧成分的系统中，羔羊粪便卵数更高；但是，在整个实验过程中，每克的粪便卵数相对较低。没有冬季放牧成分的系统，动物生产力随年份的不同而有所提高。我们的研究结果表明，包括混合物种放牧和延长季节放牧实践在内的畜牧生产系统有助于植物组成发生理想的变化，并改善了牧草生产力模式，尤其是在降水充足的年份。通过修改各种植物功能基团的相对丰度，这些做法可用于驱动牧草组成。