Introduction
In the Mediterranean Basin and West Asia, livestock production and crop farming have always been integrated. Cereal stubble and straw are important feed resources not only for animals based in the areas where crops are grown but also for the very large numbers of small ruminants that graze steppe pastures and move into crop growing areas after harvest. Degradation of steppe vegetation in the last 40 years has
increased the dependence of livestock production on feeds from the cropping zones (eg Boutonnet, 1989).
Stubble Grazing by Sheep
