The risk of climate-induced feed gaps, i.e. seasonal deficiencies in forage quantity and quality, is a major constraint for livestock in the dry regions of southern Africa. In South Africa particularly, the frequent occurrence of drought is a challenge for livestock farming and, coping strategies to mitigate feed gaps on smallholder farms are urgently needed. We chose the Limpopo province, of northern South Africa to study livestock farmers’ perceptions of the temporal patterns of feed gaps and their perceived impacts on livestock production across different agro-ecological zones (AEZ) and farm types (i.e., livestock only, mixed crop-livestock farms). We combined a semi-structured questionnaire on ninety farms with data from herbage analysis (mineral nutrient concentrations of grasses grazed in winter). Additionally, we explored the effect of seasonal feed availability on feed gaps, expressed as gross primary productivity (GPP), based on long-term simulated vegetation data. We found a close correlation between farmers’ perceived feed gaps and GPP (Pearson’s r = − 0.77, p < 0.01). Farmers’ perceptions of feed gaps are related to precipitation deficits that restrict rangeland productivity especially in winter and spring across the AEZ. Consequently, farmers considered that feed gaps occur mainly in winter (80%) followed by spring (30%) and autumn (20%). In addition, our analysis demonstrated that in winter the mineral concentration in rangeland biomass is inadequate to meet the livestock feed requirements. The percentages of farmers who perceived feed gaps and animal weight loss in the winter season did not differ significantly between farm types (p = 0.40) and AEZ (p = 0.41). Among livestock-only farmers, feed gaps were perceived to occur more in autumn (p < 0.01) whereas for mixed crop-livestock farmers the feed gap perception was greater in spring (p < 0.01). Farmers located in the drier zone perceived feed gaps more in spring (p < 0.05), leading to the significant perception of livestock weight loss for that period (p < 0.01). As strategies to deal with feed gaps, farmers rely on crop residues and/or reduction of livestock numbers. To improve the sustainability of the livestock system, our results show that feed gaps follow a strong seasonal pattern and they suggest that intervention strategies do not necessarily need to account for local climatic differences but rather for farm operation types.

气候引起的饲料缺口风险，即牧草数量和质量的季节性不足，是南部非洲干旱地区牲畜的主要制约因素。特别是在南非，干旱的频繁发生对畜牧业来说是一个挑战，迫切需要采取应对策略来缓解小农场的饲料缺口。我们选择了南非北部的林波波省来研究畜牧农民对饲料缺口时间模式的看法及其对不同农业生态区 (AEZ) 和农场类型（即，仅畜牧、混合作物）畜牧生产的影响。 -畜牧养殖场）。我们将 90 个农场的半结构化问卷与来自牧草分析的数据（冬季放牧草的矿物质营养浓度）相结合。此外，我们基于长期模拟植被数据，探讨了季节性饲料供应对饲料缺口的影响，以总初级生产力 (GPP) 表示。我们发现农民感知的饲料缺口与 GPP 之间存在密切相关性（Pearson's r = − 0.77，p < 0.01）。农民对饲料缺口的看法与限制牧场生产力的降水不足有关，尤其是在整个 AEZ 的冬季和春季。因此，农民认为饲料缺口主要发生在冬季（80%），其次是春季（30%）和秋季（20%）。此外，我们的分析表明，冬季牧场生物量中的矿物质浓度不足以满足牲畜饲料需求。认为冬季饲料缺口和动物体重减轻的农民百分比在农场类型之间没有显着差异（p = 0. 40) 和 AEZ (p = 0.41)。在仅饲养牲畜的农民中，人们认为秋季饲料缺口更多 (p < 0.01)，而对于混合作物和牲畜的农民来说，春季饲料缺口更大 (p < 0.01)。位于较干燥地区的农民在春季感知到的饲料缺口更多（p < 0.05），导致该时期牲畜体重减轻的显着感知（p < 0.01）。作为解决饲料缺口的策略，农民依赖作物残留物和/或减少牲畜数量。为了提高畜牧系统的可持续性，我们的结果表明饲料缺口遵循强烈的季节性模式，他们表明干预策略不一定需要考虑当地气候差异，而是需要考虑农场经营类型。人们认为秋季饲料缺口更多（p < 0.01），而对于混合作物-畜牧业的农民来说，春季饲料缺口更大（p < 0.01）。位于较干燥地区的农民在春季感知到的饲料缺口更多（p < 0.05），导致该时期牲畜体重减轻的显着感知（p < 0.01）。作为解决饲料缺口的策略，农民依赖作物残留物和/或减少牲畜数量。为了提高畜牧系统的可持续性，我们的结果表明饲料缺口遵循强烈的季节性模式，他们表明干预策略不一定需要考虑当地气候差异，而是需要考虑农场经营类型。人们认为秋季饲料缺口更多（p < 0.01），而对于混合作物-畜牧业的农民来说，春季饲料缺口更大（p < 0.01）。位于较干燥地区的农民在春季感知到的饲料缺口更多（p < 0.05），导致该时期牲畜体重减轻的显着感知（p < 0.01）。作为解决饲料缺口的策略，农民依赖作物残留物和/或减少牲畜数量。为了提高畜牧系统的可持续性，我们的结果表明饲料缺口遵循强烈的季节性模式，他们表明干预策略不一定需要考虑当地气候差异，而是需要考虑农场经营类型。位于较干燥地区的农民在春季感知到的饲料缺口更多（p < 0.05），导致该时期牲畜体重减轻的显着感知（p < 0.01）。作为解决饲料缺口的策略，农民依赖作物残留物和/或减少牲畜数量。为了提高畜牧系统的可持续性，我们的结果表明饲料缺口遵循强烈的季节性模式，他们表明干预策略不一定需要考虑当地气候差异，而是需要考虑农场经营类型。位于较干燥地区的农民在春季感知到的饲料缺口更多（p < 0.05），导致该时期牲畜体重减轻的显着感知（p < 0.01）。作为解决饲料缺口的策略，农民依赖作物残留物和/或减少牲畜数量。为了提高畜牧系统的可持续性，我们的结果表明饲料缺口遵循强烈的季节性模式，他们表明干预策略不一定需要考虑当地气候差异，而是需要考虑农场经营类型。