*3.3.1 Principles of rangeland management*

There are generally four fundamental principles of rangeland management which are important in order to improve condition and stability of the veld and consequently increase feed. They are rest, removal of top hamper, period of stay, and stocking density. Rest facilitates replenishment of plant growth reserves and also sets seed after defoliation. Top hamper is dead plant material accumulation which causes shading out of new shoots as they develop. It represents a nutrient bottleneck by preventing plant material from recycling back into the soil. It should therefore be removed. Another principle of rangeland management is control of period of

#### *Livestock Health and Farming*

utilisation by animals. This is important as too long periods result in overgrazing, while too short periods cause underutilisation which leads to top hamper and consequently reduced plant vigour. Stocking density refers to the number of animals that is kept on a given unit of area [41]. This has a direct relationship to the carrying capacity of the range. For instance, understocking causes selective grazing, which depletes palatable grass species. On the other hand, overstocking may degrade the range. For high stocks of reserve biomass, and for farmers with a relatively low degree of risk aversion, an "opportunistic" strategy is optimal, which matches the stocking rate with the available forage in every year [42]. On the other hand, the "resting in rainy years" grazing management strategies are recommended in which a lower stocking rate is applied in years in which current rainfall exceeds some threshold, and in years with current rainfall below this threshold, full stocking is optimal [39, 42–44].
