Pasture growth, production, and quality under rotational and continuous grazing management
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Authors: L. K. Paine, D. Undersander, and M. D. Casler
Date: 1999
Journal: Journal of Production Agriculture
Volume: 12
Number: 4
Pages: 569-577
Summary of Methods: The research was conducted on three management intensive rotational grazing (MIRG) dairy farms, and continuously grazed pastures (CON) on three conventional dairy farms in Wisconsin in 1994 to 1995. Continuous pastures in this study averaged 41.1% Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) cover. Although species composition surveys showed that the more productive, taller-growing species were present in relatively high proportions, these pastures tended to be shorter and denser than MIRG, in which the tall-growing species tended to be more dominant. The seasonal mean height of the densest part of the sward was 3.6 in. for CON and 5.9 in. for MIRG. Forage mass for ready-to-graze MIRG paddocks averaged 1736 lb/acre, more than twice as much as forage on offer for CON at 850 lb/acre. The data suggest that, under management common in this region, forage mass is lower in continuously grazed pastures than in rotationally grazed pastures at similar stocking rates. It can be predicted that forage mass during the growing season and forage quality declines in response to increasing availability for CON pastures, particularly for fiber content. For the pastures in this study, as CON forage mass approached levels considered ready-to-graze for MIRG, forage quality declined linearly. Overall, this study documented that overall forage yields of rotationally managed pastures are considerably higher than those of unmanaged, continuously grazed pastures.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: management intensive rotational grazing (mirg), grazing, forage growth, production, rotational grazing systems, continuous grazing systems, dairy farms, crude protein, height density, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber
Annotation: Rotational paddocks were 3.8 to 14.2 acres in size. Average instantaneous stocking density of 24 AU/acre for both years. Continuous pastures monitored for the study area were 18.9 to 24.7 acres in size for a total of 101 acres in 1994 and 97 acres in 1995. Averaged together by treatment, participating rotational and continuous farms had similar stocking rates of 1.34 and 1.38 AU/acre for MIRG and CON, respectively. However, each treatment had a range of stocking rates among farms. For MIRG pastures, they ranged from 0.8 to 2 AU/acre.,For CON pastures they ranged from 0.5 to 2.1 AU/acre.
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