The growing importance of grassland and all its products is becoming more evident. A grassland economy is the backbone of the sheep, dairy cattle, and beef cattle industries. Grassland farming makes for a more permanent type of agriculture. An increased acreage in sod crops results in less erosion, better soil structure and drainage, and higher organic matter. Soil productivity can be maintained or improved under grassland farming practices.

A general appreciation of the value of pasture as a source of livestock feed, improvements in strains of grasses and legumes, and better knowledge of fertilizer usage have encouraged the increase in acreage of highly productive pastures. Well managed pastures are highly productive and supply nutritious herbage high in minerals and protein.

The Northern Virginia Pasture Research Station at Middleburg, Virginia has experiments under way to measure quantity of production and the nutritional value of pasture herbage when grazed by dairy and beef cattle (1 and 2). These experiments are designed to measure the value of species, mixtures, methods of rotational grazing, and continuous grazing of one mixture as compared with grazing different mixtures in a rotational sequence. Data are being obtained on carrying capacity, livestock gains, carcass characteristics, palatability, and rate of milk production.

This study was undertaken to gain supplementary information on the established grazing experiments at Middleburg. It was postulated that data on animal behavior would help interpret the animal responses observed. This report gives data on animal grazing frequency; however, data on other aspects of animal behavior were obtained.