Page
Extensive Feeding Systems
Completion requirements
View
The basic principles of an extensive production or feeding system are the following:
- Low input from management.
- The high degree of self-sufficiency of livestock.
Livestock in an extensive feeding system is normally free grazing or browsing in a camp or pasture and no additional feedstuffs are provided in addition to the natural vegetation of the veldt. The only component supplied by management is good quality drinking water. Livestock is regularly moved to different camps to prevent overgrazing of the veldt. Dry-land systems with no irrigation of the veldt are normally the case.
Where there is a shortage of nutrients in the consistency of the natural vegetation a producer often provides a lick to compensate for this deficiency. This normally includes a protein and micro- supplement lick.