Impacts of grazing cattle in a pecan grove

摘要

One of the most common forms of ground cover management in native pecan groves is to pasture cattle (Fig. 1). Grazing offers 2 advantages for a pecan producer: a second source of income from the same parcel of land (pecans + beef) and a significant reduction in orchard mowing costs.The grazing of animals under tree crops is an age-old agriculturalpractice that started soon after man first learned to tend livestock. To this day, travel to almost any Mediterranean coastal area and you'll see rock-walled sheep paddocks with rows of ancient olive trees covering the hillsides. These farms were first created by ancient Greeks and Romans some 2000 to 3000 years ago. On land unsuited for grain crops, ancient farmers producedmeat, wool, oil and fruit all from the same acreage.Today's native pecan groves are just a reflection of this ancient agricultural system.