A study was conducted in 2009 at two locations in Manitoba (Killarney and Souris), Canada to determine the impact of off-stream waterers (OSW) with or without natural barriers on (i) amount of time cattle spent in the 10 m buffer created within the riparian area, referred to as the riparian polygon (RP), (ii) watering location (OSW or stream), and (iii) animal performance measured as weight gain. This study was divided into three 28-day periods over the grazing season. At each location, the pasture—which ranged from 21.0 ha to 39.2 ha in size—was divided into three treatments: no OSW nor barriers (1CONT), OSW with barriers along the stream bank to deter cattle from watering at the stream (2BARR), and OSW without barriers (3NOBARR). Cattle in 2BARR spent less time in the RP in Periods 1 (p = 0.0002), 2 (p = 0.1116), and 3 (p < 0.0001) at the Killarney site compared to cattle in 3NOBARR at the same site. Cattle in 2BARR at the Souris site spent more time in the RP in Period 1 (p < 0.0001) and less time in Period 2 (p = 0.0002) compared to cattle in 3NOBARR. Cattle did use the OSW, but not exclusively, as watering at the stream was still observed. The observed inconsistency in the effectiveness of the natural barriers on deterring cattle from the riparian area between periods and locations may be partly attributable to the environmental conditions present during this field trial as well as difference in pasture size and the ability of the established barriers to deter cattle from using the stream as a water source. Treatment had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on cow and calf weights averaged over the summer period. These results indicate that the presence of an OSW does not create significant differences in animal performance when used in extensive pasture scenarios such as those studied within the present study. Whereas the barriers did not consistently discourage watering at the stream, the results provide some indication of the efficacy of the OSW as well as the natural barriers on deterring cattle from the riparian area.

This paper takes up the case of two market-sheds in the southern Ethiopian highlands (namely Adilo and Kofele) to examine the factors affecting the adoption of small ruminant related technologies in mixed-farming systems. A survey was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires with 155 randomly selected small ruminant keepers between May and June 2006. Farmers in each site initiated new practices like small ruminant fattening and managing a household ‘veterinary kit’. Logistic regression analysis revealed that size of land and livestock holdings significantly affected the adoption of small ruminant technologies in both study sites. Farmer variables such as gender, literacy, age and family size appeared to influence adoption only in one location. In the densely populated area, Adilo, the adoption of more intensive feeding technology of commercial concentrates decreased with increasing farm size only up to a point. Younger farmers, female farmers and literate household heads were more likely to adopt the utilization of commercial concentrates. In relatively resource rich Kofele, treating small ruminants via the household veterinary kit increased with number of livestock, however with farm size only up to the point at which it reached a maximum. The present study showed that location or production system remarkably affects the options of interventions and determines their adoption.