Grazing in automn. Factors influencing the grass quantity | Utilisation des paturages en automne. Effets sur la quantite d'herbe
2006
Mosimann, E. | Jeangros, B. (Agroscope Changins-Waedenswil (ACW), Nyon (Switzerland)) | Luescher, A. | Lobsiger, M. | Hofer, C.
To reduce forage costs, the grazing season in autumn is often extended until November. An experiment comparing three different closing dates in fall (early October, late October, late November) has been carried out during three years on two leys in the Swiss lowlands. The effect of the three treatments on the grass yield has been highly significant. Each kg DM used between early October and late November reduced spring yield by 0.34 kg DM in mid-March and 0.45 kg DM in early April. In the beginning of May, the highest production was achieved by letting more than 300 to 500 kg DM/ha in November, corresponding to a grass height over 5 cm (plate pasture meter). By lower values, the loss of production could be important. Grazing in autumn leads to a partial loss of forage in spring, which should be taken into account by the costs calculation. On the other hand, the growth of grass in spring can thus be graduated by varying the closing date of different paddocks in autumn. There were no significant differences between the two kinds of utilisation analysed (cut or grazed). Finally, grass height measurement was closely related to the DM-yield measurement and can be used as a simple but valuable estimation of the yield.
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Эту запись предоставил Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station