Research for upland farming

Dr Mariecia Fraser

Biodiversity Carbon

Water Amenity value

Food

Energy

Timber

Improved

Semi-natural rough grazing

Bronydd Mawr

1984 – 2009

Brecon Beacons

Joint initiative with HFRO/Macaulay

Pwllpeiran Upland Research Platform

Cahn Hill Improvement Scheme in 1930s

MAFF experimental husbandry farm 1950s

ADAS until 2012

Cambrian Mountains

Adjacent to Elenydd SAC

Effects of mixed grazing

Improved performance

when cattle grazing

incorporated

Fraser et al, 2007

Sheep with steers

a

bc

b

c

Sheep with suckler cows

Meta-analysis of 4 yrs data:

System: P<0.001

Year: P<0.01

System x Year: ns

Mixed grazing improved the liveweight gains of lambs, particularly post weaning, regardless of the duration of cattle grazing or the cattle:sheep ratio.

Fraser et al, 2013, 2014

Forage legumes Grazed by finishing lambs

• Higher growth rates

• Reduction in time to finish

• Similar liveweights at finish

• Higher KO% for red clover

• Similar carcass composition

• Meat quality similar

Ensiled for pregnant ewes:

• Higher intakes

• Increased lambs growth rates

post partum

Fraser et al, 2000, 2004; Speijers et al., 2005, 2007a, 2007b

Percentage inclusion of red clover silage

• 10 month old Charolais-cross

steers

• 10 week winter feeding trial

• Performance influenced by

inclusion of red clover silage

• Growth rates increased as

percentage of red clover in the

diet increased

Ensiled red clover

Future work

• New crops and varieties

• Testing establishment, performance and

persistency

• Multi-species mixes

• Role in water and carbon management

• Long-term impacts of management changes

Galantamine is a pharmaceutical product that has

been an approved Alzheimer’s Disease treatment

since 1998.

Galantamine is mainly produced from plants.

Daffodils are the only economically feasible plant

source for cultivation in the UK.

Daffodils in upland areas have a higher yield of

galanthamine

Yellow Gold

New approach for producing daffodil-derived

galanthamine

Daffodils sown into existing upland pasture

Project will cover:

- Machinery for planting and harvesting

- Establishment and yields

- Role of grazing management

- Impact on sheep performance

- Optimum fertiliser regimes

Historically:

Production drive and headage payments

Increase in sheep numbers

Habitat degradation caused by overgrazing

Decoupling has raised new issues: destocking,

undergrazing

How do we achieve what we want? (assuming

we know what that is…)

More recently:

Introducing cattle

Less selective grazers.

Greater ability to remove low digestibility biomass.

But may cause more damage to Calluna if grass availability is low.

Trampling helps to create bare ground and ‘open up’ dense swards.

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0.2

0.4

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1.2

CharX WB CharX WB

Liv

e-w

eig

ht

gain

(g

/kg

)

Improved SNRG

Sign. Breed ** Forage *** Breed x Forage ns

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0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

CharX WB CharX WB L

ive

-weig

ht

gain

(g

/kg

)

Improved SNRG

Sign. Breed ns Forage *** Breed x Forage ns

~ 9 months ~ 20 months

The role of breed type

Fraser et al, 2009

Carcass conformation similar for both breeds.

Pasture type had more effect on fatty acid composition than breed.

SNRG-grazed had less overall fat and a slightly better PUFA content.

Higher vitamin E in meat from SNRG.

No effect of diet on eating quality.

Effect on meat quality

Fraser et al, 2009

Traditional breeds may provide aesthetic & cultural value,

but is there evidence they provide specific grazing

benefits for grassland biodiversity?

Welsh Black Continental cross

Experiments with cattle investigating breed × nutritional

environment interactions.

Limousin cross Belted Galloway

Steers

Suckler cows

No effect of breed type

on utilisation of Molinia Fraser et al, 2009, 2013

On ryegrass:

Growth similar - 1.08 vs 1.00 kg/d.

On hill pasture:

Growth similar – 0.34 vs 0.25 kg/d.

a a

a b

Methane production

Fraser et al, 2014

Evidence from Europe of breed differences.

Differences found in the diets of Scottish Blackface

and Welsh Mountain sheep grazing moorland.

The role breed type: sheep

Information and models

relating to the impact of

sheep in the uplands is

largely based on data

Scottish Blackfaces.

Fraser et al, 2009

Bioenergy from semi-natural

grassland

Corton et al, 2012

• New income streams

• Exploits an under-utilised resource

• Processing options explored

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37

1 2 3

4 5 6

7

Biomass storage tank Hydro-thermal conditioning Screw press for mechanical separation

Mash water tank Press fluid storage tank Digester

Biogas burner 8 Press cake dryer Heat exchanger

6 6 65

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1

4

Knowledge gaps

• Impact of grazing on carbon capture

• Role in water management

• Effect of changing breed types and sizes

• Grazing prescriptions and making LUs meaningful

• Manipulating grazing patterns

• Alternative grazers

• Alternative uses for grassland

• Integrating these

Summary

• New technologies and developments

• Multi-functional landscapes

• Renewed focus on uplands

• Capability to deliver

@uplandresources