Auf den Grünlandstandorten ist die Mutterkuh- und Schafhaltung sowie die Futterproduktion von Anwelksilage und Heu verbreitet. Weitere Grünlandflächen sind aber vorhanden, eine alternative Nutzungsform stellt die Jungrinder- und Färsenaufzucht dar. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde untersucht, inwieweit sich die Stall- bzw. Weidehaltung vom 15. bis zum 21.Lebensmonat von weiblichen Jungrindern auf das spätere Wachstum bis zum 100.Laktationstag der 1.Laktation, die Fruchtbarkeit, die Erkrankungen und Abgänge während der Aufzuchtphase, der 1.und 2.Laktation sowie die Milchleistung in den ersten beiden Laktationen auswirkt. Bis zum 14. und ab dem 22.Lebensmonat wurden beide Versuchsgruppen unter einheitlichen Stallbedingungen gehalten. In dem von Mai 2000 bis Dezember 2002 dauernden Versuch wurden zu Beginn nach zufäll-iger Auswahl jeweils 74 Jungrinder der Rasse Deutsche Holstein in die Stall- und Weide-gruppe eingeteilt. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse zeigen, dass im Vergleich zur Stallhaltung eine begrenzte Weidehaltung von Jungrindern zu einer deutlich geringeren Lebendmasseentwicklung a.p. Fruchtbarkeitsproblemen und größeren gesundheitlichen Risiken in der 1.Laktation führen. Mit der 2.Laktation konnten sich die Milchkühe aus der Weidegruppe stabilisieren und erreichten eine höhere Milchleistung, bessere Fruchtbarkeitsparameter und ein geringeres Abgangsgeschehen im Vergleich zu den Kühen aus der Stallgruppe. Die Weidenutzung kann das tierische Leistungspotential gut ausschöpfen, wenn eine ord-nungsgemäße Vorbereitung der Tiere an die Weidebedingungen erfolgt und ein zu hohes kompensatorisches Wachstum der Färsen nach der Weideperiode vermieden wird, um Probleme bei der Abkalbung und Spätfolgen in der Laktation zu verhindern. Folgende Optimierungsmaßnahmen der produktionstechnischen Bedingungen der Weidehalt-ung sind erforderlich: * Kontinuierliche Kontrolle der Lebendmasse und des Exterieurs der Weidetiere und gegebenenfalls Rückführung in die Stallhaltung * Verbesserung der Pflanzenstruktur des Grünlandes * Durchführung von regelmäßigen Pflegemaßnahmen auf dem Grünland / In the meadow land sites mother cow and sheep keeping as well as food production of wilted silage and hay is spread. Further pasture land areas are existing, an alternative form of use is the raising of young cattle and heifers. In the context of this dissertation is was examined to what extent there are effects of the cowshed and meadow keeping from the 15th up to the 21st month of life of female young cattle on the later growth up to the 100th day of the first lactation, the fertility, the illnesses and deaths during the period of raising, the first and second lactation as well as the milk results within the first two lactations. Up to the 14th and from the 22nd month of life both test groups were kept under the same cowshed conditions. At the beginning of the test from May 2000 up to December 2002 74 young cattle of the breed "Deutsche Holstein" were divided up into the cowshed as well as the pasture keeping by an accidental choice. The test results show that, in comparison to cowshed keeping, a limited pasture keeping of young cattle leads to a clearly lower liveweight development a.p., fertility problems and bigger health risks in the first lactation. With the second lactation the dairy cows could stabilize and reached a higher milk result, better fertility parameter and a lower death rate in comparison to the cows of the cowshed group. The use of the meadows can exhaust the animal potential well, if there is a proper preparation of the animals for the meadow conditions and if a compensatory growth of the heifers, that is too high, is avoided after the meadow period to prevent problems with the calving in the lactation. The following optimization measures of the production methods of the meadow keeping are necessary: * continuous checks of the liveweight and the appearance of the animals and if necessary return to the cowshed keeping * improvement of the plant structure of the pasture land * implementation of regular care measures on the pasture land

This study was undertaken to research the principles and practices behind increased pasture productivity on Longslip Station, Omarama. A range of landscape - soil - climate - plant systems were identified, then analysed and the legume responses measured. By isolating cause and effect and appreciating the driving variables of each system, lessons learnt could be reliably and objectively transferred to the rest of the farm. Extrapolation to the balance of the property (15,150 ha) permitted immediate large-scale development and engendered confidence to lending institutions, Lands Department, catchment authorities and ourselves. Soil (land) cannot be well managed and conserved unless it is mapped reliably and its characteristics measured and interpreted by skilled observers (Cutler, 1977). Soil resource surveys, and their interpretation, are an essential ingredient of rational resource evaluation and planning. This thesis is a figurative and comparative survey and study of the soil catenary bodies, resident vegetation, legume establishment and pasture production characteristics of a 400 hectare catchment, in relation to, and as influenced by soil landscape unit, slope component, altitude, aspect and time. The inherent diversity in landform, soil properties and vegetation communities in a single catchment in the high country has not previously been fully studied or appreciated. This has lead to blanket recommendations for fertilizer, seed and management regimes both within and between properties and even regions. This study reports on the diversity of, yet predictable change in soil properties with slope position (upper, middle and lower) aspect and altitude in terms of both soil physical properties e.g. soil depth and water holding capacity and soil chemical properties such as pH, BS%, %P, %S, %N and %C. The composition of the resident vegetation and its differential response to oversowing and topdressing and subsequent change through time is reported and discussed. Finally an epilogue gives an insight into the problems and frustrations of farming practices in the high country from a motivation and personal perspective and political point of view that it is essential to come to terms with.