Various units of measurement are used, usually based on the grazing equivalent of one adult cow, or in some areas on that of one sheep.
Livestock grazing comparison units are used by many governments to measure and control the intensity of farming.
For example, until 2004 the UK Government had an extensification scheme which paid additional subsidy to farmers who kept their livestock at less than an average of 1.4 LUs per hectare.
[3] The following is a summary of some schemes in common use, using the most closely comparable categories: The size of a livestock farm in Central Europe was traditionally given in Stößen (singular: Stoß) This unit of measurement was subsequently replaced by the grazing livestock unit or Großvieheinheit (GV).
A Großvieheinheit (GV or GVE) is a conversion key used to compare different farm animals on the basis of their live weight.
The "tropical livestock unit" or (tropische Vieheinheit) or TLU is based on a live weight of 250 kg.