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D-carrying-capacity Dictionary

Carrying capacity

The number of animals a piece of land can support without being degraded

All termsIntroduced in Module 9Open the Toolkit
An open dictionary on a farm office desk
Plain meaning
The number of animals a piece of land can support without being degraded
How to use it
Calculate the number of animals the land can carry from its grazing quality and size, and never stock above it.
South African benchmark
About 80% of South African agricultural land is suitable only for extensive grazing (Article 59).
Country notes
Carrying capacity on dry rangeland in Botswana and Namibia is far lower per hectare than on the wetter highveld of Zimbabwe.
Go and read
C9 Lesson 9.4, C9 Lesson 9.5, M9-U6
Calculate it
T-M9-02 Stocking Rate
Library sources
LIB-A072, LIB-A073, LIB-A074
See also
Destocking, Stocking density
A fenced camp of veld carrying a set number of cattleCarrying capacityHectares per animal unit the veld can feed without damage
Carrying capacity, shown as a diagram.

Introduced in C9 Climate, Water and Resource Risk.