Effect of pasture cover and height on nutrient concentrations in diverse swards in the UK
Name
Grassland_Science_-_2020_-_Bell_-_Effect_of_pasture_cover_and_height_on_nutrient_concentrations_in_diverse_swards_in_the_UK.pdf
Description
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Size
442.17 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (CRC64NVME)
5iarMAXOyFY=
Resource type
Journal article
Date published
November 23, 2020
Abstract
A total of 445 pasture samples were collected from six fields representing a wide range of dry grass content (0–100%), and grass, legume, herb, flower and weed species. Fields were located in the grass†dominated and temperate regions of western UK and monitored monthly for 9 months during late summer, autumn and winter months. The pasture properties assessed included measurements of percentage of grass content, height (in centimeters), pasture cover (fresh weight (FW) and dry matter (DM) in kg /ha) and pasture density (FW and DM in kg ha cm ) and nutrient concentrations (DM, crude protein, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), sugars, ash, digestible organic matter in the DM (DOMD), oil, nitrate nitrogen and metabolizable energy (ME)). This study showed that across the pastures studied, increasing both pasture height and DM cover brought a desirable increase in crude protein, sugars, DOMD, oil and ME for grazing systems. Seasonal changes in nutrient concentrations of diverse swards will occur; however, differences in nutrient concentrations among swards can be minimized by the grass species present and/or mix with broadleaf plants, and management of grass maturity.
Funder
| Funder name | Awards |
National Trust Seed Fund, Nottingham Impact Accelerator | |
Journal title
Grassland Science
Volume
67
Issue
3
Publisher
Wiley
ISSN
1744-6961
eISSN
1744-697X
Date accepted
August 9, 2020
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
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