A Comparison between Simulated Grazing, 2-Cut and 3-Cut Silage Management on the Performance of Lolium perenne L.

A Comparison between Simulated Grazing, 2-Cut and 3-Cut Silage Management on the Performance of Lolium perenne L.

Internationally, the majority of grass cultivar evaluation protocols test the performance of cultivars under cutting managements with little or no exposure to animal stresses such as treading and plant pulling. In addition, the majority of these protocols test cultivars under 2 or 3 cut silage systems. Gilliland and Mann (2000) reported a difference in cultivar ranking between years and also between management systems when a severe (simulated grazing to 3 cm height) or lax (6 cm height) defoliation was applied to perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) cultivars in plot trials. Internationally, many evaluation protocols use only one management system within the protocol, whereby defoliation height is constant. If the protocol applied is not similar to the grazing manage-ment imposed at farm level, then it is unclear if the protocol can identify the cultivars which are most suitable to a particular production system.