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Publication Date
1981
Description
Because plant beeders have few laboratory analyses of forage quality that are good predictors of animal performance when grazing pasture, • we studied the feasibility of grazing small pastures with cattle in order to detect possible forage-quality differences among cultivars of tall fescue (Festuca anmdinacea Schreb). Kentucky 31, Kenmont, Fawn, and Missouri 96 tall fescue cultivars and Kenhy, a Lolium-Festuca derivative, were grown in 0.47-ha pastures and grazed in separate periods ranging from 35 to 68 days during the spring, summer, and autumn of 1974-1976. Between grazing periods, cattle grazed a reserve pasture of the same cultivar. All test pastures were grazed at the same grazing pressure, and cattle were moved to a fresh feed each week. Average daily gain (ADG) of heifers was 22 % to 83 % greater on Kenhy and Missouri 96 than on Kentucky 31. Differences in ADG occurred mainly in the spring and autumn. There were no measurable differences in herbage intake. Actual experimental errors for ADG and those estimated by the method of Petersen and Lucas (1960) were very similar in all but one period of grazing. This error-estimate method is a useful tool for designing grazing trials to evaluate forage cultivars in small pastures. Our results exhibit the importance of animal evaluation of new forage cultivars and the hazard of depending only on laboratory analyses as the ha.sis of assessing forage quality.
Citation
Matches, A G.; Martz, F A.; Sleeper, D A.; and Belyea, R L., "Grazing Techniques for Evaluating Quality of Forage Cultivars in Small Pastures" (1981). IGC Proceedings (1977-2023). 10.
(URL: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1981/section8/10)
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Grazing Techniques for Evaluating Quality of Forage Cultivars in Small Pastures
Because plant beeders have few laboratory analyses of forage quality that are good predictors of animal performance when grazing pasture, • we studied the feasibility of grazing small pastures with cattle in order to detect possible forage-quality differences among cultivars of tall fescue (Festuca anmdinacea Schreb). Kentucky 31, Kenmont, Fawn, and Missouri 96 tall fescue cultivars and Kenhy, a Lolium-Festuca derivative, were grown in 0.47-ha pastures and grazed in separate periods ranging from 35 to 68 days during the spring, summer, and autumn of 1974-1976. Between grazing periods, cattle grazed a reserve pasture of the same cultivar. All test pastures were grazed at the same grazing pressure, and cattle were moved to a fresh feed each week. Average daily gain (ADG) of heifers was 22 % to 83 % greater on Kenhy and Missouri 96 than on Kentucky 31. Differences in ADG occurred mainly in the spring and autumn. There were no measurable differences in herbage intake. Actual experimental errors for ADG and those estimated by the method of Petersen and Lucas (1960) were very similar in all but one period of grazing. This error-estimate method is a useful tool for designing grazing trials to evaluate forage cultivars in small pastures. Our results exhibit the importance of animal evaluation of new forage cultivars and the hazard of depending only on laboratory analyses as the ha.sis of assessing forage quality.
