关键词: 草地, 畜牧业, 系统, 草食动物

Abstract: Grassland farming system concepts consist of forage and livestock production as affected by grazing and driven by marketing. Energy and nutrients transferred from forage to animals form the system structure and function. Grassland farming system has generally common characteristics; for example behavior, structure, relationship, and integration. The system also has its specific characteristics, as influenced by being both a semi natural and semi human-made system. Its natural attribute is represented by a production process of grass/forage depending on soil and climate, while the human-made attribute is represented by a process of livestock production depending on forage quantities and qualities and labor involvement. Each component of the system has a series of elements to form a subsystem which allows total system efficiency. Appropriate definition of grassland farming system can improve our understanding about the integrated relationship between grassland and animal management. The facts are that the forage grasses of 0.3 billion ton from grassland and the forage stalks of 0.6 billion ton from cropland are produced per year in China. The total forages of 0.7 billion ton are consumed to produce the livestock of 20 million ton per year. The feed conversion ratio is only 2%～3% per year indicating that there is great potential to improve the efficiency of grassland farming system.

Key words: Grassland, Animal husbandry, System, Herbivore