Forage−animal energy balance and benefit Analysis of household ranches in different stocking rate

Forage and animal balance is an effective way to regulate the production and ecological development of grassland pastoral areas, and the study of forage and animal energy balance plays an important role in the improvement of forage and animal supply−demand relationship and economic efficiency at the scale of household ranches. In this study, based on the research data of 59 household ranches in Zhenglan Banner, different gradients of stocking rate were divided into different gradients of stocking rate and constructed the typical herdsmen, respectively, based on the current situation of stocking rate. The grass and livestock energy balance model was used to simulate the annual supply and demand of forage and animal energy and to plan a reasonable management plan, and the factors affecting the profitability of household ranches were determined by principal component analysis. The results showed that the forage expenditure of household ranches in the study area increased with the increase of stocking rate, and the feed expenditure of high stocking rate household ranches was higher than that of low stocking rate household ranches by 117500 yuan; in terms of economic benefits of livestock, low stocking rate household ranches had the highest net income per unit of livestock, and the net income per unit of livestock was 1,075.82 yuan·SE⁻¹·year⁻¹ , which was significantly higher than that of medium stocking rate and high stocking rate household ranches (P<0.05); Livestock energy supply and demand were unbalanced during the year, and the energy deficit of grassland in winter and spring was up to 10.61 MJ·SE⁻¹·d⁻¹, while the grassland in summer and fall met the energy supply and had a surplus; the area of natural grassland and the number of livestock had a significant effect on the profitability of the household ranch under different stocking rate. Enhancing the performance of individual livestock by reducing the number of livestock and changing feeding combinations is important for the sustainable development of household ranch and the achievement of a win situation in terms of ecology and economy.