Abstract

Increasing herd size is causing problems with trampling damage to pasture, causing dirty conditions for dairy cattle. This four-year study compared rotationally grazed swards with four seed mixtures in order to evaluate (1) persistence, botanical composition, forage nutritive value and herbage yield (results presented here) and (2) trampling resistance with respect to vegetation cover (results presented in a companion paper by Eva Salomon et al.). The mixtures were sown in a completely randomised block design (three replicates) and grazed on 17 occasions. All mixtures contained forage or amenity varieties of smooth meadow-grass (Poa pratensis) and red fescue (Festuca rubra), with/without white clover (Trifolium repens), plus perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). Botanical composition was analysed in all years, herbage yield and forage nutritive value only in years 3-4. At the end of the experiment, the seed mixture with tall fescue had significantly (P<0.001) more smooth meadow-grass (70%) than that with perennial ryegrass (23%). There was no significant difference in annual herbage yield (4,300-5,400 kg DM ha-1). The mixture with clover and ryegrass had significantly higher metabolizable energy and crude protein content (mid- to late grazing) and less fibre (NDF) than corresponding mixture without clover.

Published in

Grassland Science in Europe
2019, Volume: 24, pages: 173-175

Conference

Joint 20th Symposium of the European Grassland Federation and the 33rd Meeting of the EUCARPIA Section ‘Fodder Crops and Amenity Grasses’ Zürich, Switzerland 24-27 June 2019

SLU Authors

• Nilsdotter-Linde, Nilla

  • Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Spörndly, Eva

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/103828