Publication Date
1993
Location
New Zealand
Description
Three pasture types (volunteer annual grass+medic, grass-free medic and oat+volunteer grass+medic) were compared at 2 stocking rates (8.4 and 12.6 DSE) with grazing Merino wethers. The oat variety is resistnnt to both Gaeumannomyces graminis (take-all) and Heterodem avenae (cereal cyst nematode), important root diseases of cereals. Four harvests were taken during early winter. The oat + grass + medic pasture type had a faster growth rate and maintained higher levels of available pasture on all sampling occasions (July to September). The yields of the grass and medic components were significantly reduced in the oat+grass+medic treatment from the second harvest onwards. There were no stocking rate x pasture type interactions, due possibly to higher than normal growth rates of the pasture, Sheep body-weight gain was similar in all treatments, the overall mean being 0.226 kg/sheep/day for the winter growth period. It was concluded that oat-medic mixtures have the potential to increase the carrying capacity of legume pastures by improving early winter production. Other benefits include reduced grass and broad-leaved weeds resulting in less cereal root diseases for following crops.
Citation
Roberts, G N.; Tow, P G.; and Carter, E D., "Role of Gramineous Species in Cereal-Annual Legume Farming Systems" (1993). IGC Proceedings (1985-2023). 13.
(URL: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1993/session60/13)
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Role of Gramineous Species in Cereal-Annual Legume Farming Systems
New Zealand
Three pasture types (volunteer annual grass+medic, grass-free medic and oat+volunteer grass+medic) were compared at 2 stocking rates (8.4 and 12.6 DSE) with grazing Merino wethers. The oat variety is resistnnt to both Gaeumannomyces graminis (take-all) and Heterodem avenae (cereal cyst nematode), important root diseases of cereals. Four harvests were taken during early winter. The oat + grass + medic pasture type had a faster growth rate and maintained higher levels of available pasture on all sampling occasions (July to September). The yields of the grass and medic components were significantly reduced in the oat+grass+medic treatment from the second harvest onwards. There were no stocking rate x pasture type interactions, due possibly to higher than normal growth rates of the pasture, Sheep body-weight gain was similar in all treatments, the overall mean being 0.226 kg/sheep/day for the winter growth period. It was concluded that oat-medic mixtures have the potential to increase the carrying capacity of legume pastures by improving early winter production. Other benefits include reduced grass and broad-leaved weeds resulting in less cereal root diseases for following crops.
