Metadata from: Mob and rotational grazing influence pasture biomass, nutritive value, and species composition

This is digital research metadata corresponding to a published manuscript in Agronomy Journal, "Mob and rotational grazing influence pasture biomass, nutritive value, and species composition", Vol. 112 p. 2866-2878. Dataset may be accessed via the included link at the Dryad data repository.

Mob grazing, which uses very high stocking densities for short durations followed by a relatively long rest period, was designed to mimic bison (Bison bison) grazing in western U.S. grassland. This project assessed the suitability of mob grazing for livestock production in the Northeast. Objectives were to compare the effects of mob and rotational grazing on dry matter (DM) mass, nutritive value, and botanical composition across four grazing seasons. Eight, 0.10‐ha paddocks were established in 2014 as a randomized complete block with four replications, and seeded with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), narrowleaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.), and tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort]. Mob‐grazed (MOB) paddocks were grazed by yearling beef cattle twice each year, (70–90–day interval), and rotationally grazed (ROT) paddocks were grazed four to six times each year (when sward height reached 25 cm).

Methods are described in the manuscript https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20215. Descriptions corresponding to each figure and table in the manuscript are placed on separate tabs in the Excel file to clarify abbreviations and summarize the data headings and units.

• Resource Title: Link to Mob and Rotational Study dataset at Datadryad.org.

  File Name: Web Page, url: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.79cnp5ht4

  Data set one: weather data (precipitation and temperature), pasture height, forage removal, cumulative and per harvest forage mass, botanical composition, and nutritive values of forage material subjected to mob and rotational grazing over a 4-year period (2015-2018) in central Pennsylvania.