To attain optimal sheep production, the manager must, within the limits of the range resource, provide for the needs of the sheep. Because sheep are usually raised under both economic and environmental uncertainty, flexibility for management must be preserved. Such flexibility is seldom, if ever, present at maximum production. Multispecies Grazing Multispecies grazing is an excellent management tool to distribute grazing pressure, maintain or improve plant diversity and diet quality, reduce the likelihood and effects of noxious plants, and spread economic risk. Although it is a misconception that diets of different animal species do not overlap, the potential benefits of distinct selection tendencies of the ruminant species are often underestimated.
Cattle tend to be somewhat nonselective and graze for quantity rather than quality.
However, cattle avoid certain plants which, as a result, gain a competitive advantage and over time increase as a percentage of the available vegetation. Small ruminants, especially goats and deer, are more selective for quality and tend to prefer foliage and mast of shrubs and trees, many of which are avoided by cattle. Sheep are somewhat intermediate to these extremes but strongly prefer short, tender forbs and grass regrowth. Often the actual grazed area is less than half of the total area available. Sheep will readily browse palatable shrubs in the winter, which makes winter desert ranges more valuable to sheep producers than cattle producers.