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REVIEW
Contents Vol 48(7)

Manipulating dietary preference to improve animal performance

G. R. Edwards A C , A. J. Parsons B and R. H. Bryant A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Agriculture Group, Agriculture and Life Sciences Division, Lincoln University, Canterbury 7647, New Zealand.

B AgResearch Grasslands, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

C Corresponding author. Email: edwardsg@lincoln.ac.nz

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48(7) 773-779 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA08006
Submitted: 4 January 2008  Accepted: 28 March 2008   Published: 20 June 2008

Abstract

This paper reviews opportunities to improve the diet quality, intake and performance of animals through manipulation of the partial preference commonly shown by grazing animals for different pasture components. Using evidence from the well-worked example of grass–legume pastures, potential opportunities to manipulate preference are highlighted, including: (i) altering plant characteristics to change the relative preference of alternative species or cultivars; (ii) utilising variation in preference among and within animal species; and (iii) working with, rather than against, known preference patterns, by offering forages as spatially separated monocultures within the same paddock or at different times of the day. In all cases, it is argued that is important to consider the full complexities of pasture–animal interactions, in particular, how current diet choices feed back to determine choices available subsequently in the pasture. To develop feeding systems where desirable pasture traits for animal performance are sustained at a high abundance in the diet, plant and animal breeding selection practises and grazing management systems should take greater account of the existence of partial preferences.


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