There is no information available on the influence of nitrogen (N) fertilization on autumn-accumulated forage under Central European conditions. In this context, the metabolizable energy and the degree of fungal infection have never been examined before. In this study, the effects of the amount of N fertilizer (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha )1 ), the date of N application (July and August) and the date of winter harvest (December, January and February) on the quality and dry matter (DM) yield of Festuca arundinacea stands in winter were investigated. DM yield, the metabolizable energy and digestibility of organic matter (¼ in vitro rumen fermentation technique), crude protein, ADL (acid detergent lignin) 2 , and for the first time ergosterol were determined. Disregarding the 0 variant, no interactions of any relevance were present. DM yield, crude protein and values of ADL increased with increasing amounts of N, but the concentration of energy decreased. The late N application resulted mostly in lower DM yields but kept the forage physiologically younger, which brought about higher levels of metabolizable energy and lower concentrations of ADL. With later date of harvest, losses of mass and quality occurred. The degree of fungal infection rose as the amount of N fertilizer increased. Three years of investigation under different weather conditions, including interactions with the effects of N fertilization, provide a good base for generalization.

·Festulolium ssp. are of particular interest as autumn-saved herbage in the winter grazing system, but information concerning their performance in this low-input system is not available. To this end, we examined dry matter (DM) yield and forage quality in winter of four different cultivars of ·Festulolium ssp. (·Festulolium pabulare, Festulolium braunii), either with festucoid or loloid attributes, compared with Festuca arundinacea Schreb. Furthermore, pre-utilization (accumulation since June or July) and date of winter harvest (December or January) were varied examining the influence of different sward management. DM yield, crude protein, metabolizable energy (ME) (in vitro rumen fermentation technique), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and ergosterol concentration were determined. Within all years, the festucoid cultivars (mean 3.4 t ha )1 ) attained significant higher yields during winter than the loloid cultivars (mean 1.6 t ha )1 ), but their yields were comparable with F. arundinacea (mean 3.0 t ha )1 ). Crude protein was decisively influenced by the different yield levels of the cultivars resulting in higher values for the loloid cultivars. Energy concentrations decreased with later winter harvest, whereas ADF as well as ergosterol concentrations frequently increased from December to January. The greatest differences between festucoid and loloid cultivars were generally observed during severe winters. Obviously, the festucoid cultivars were better adapted to a utilization as autumn-saved herbage than the cultivars with rather loloid attributes. However, the hybrids did not surpass F. arundinacea regarding yield and quality.

The paper focuses on possible effects of the botanical composition and weather conditions on the extend of zearalenone and ochratoxin A concentrations in various grass swards in winter pasture systems. Zearalenone is only detectable in pure stands ofLolium perenne or inLolio-Cynosuretum plant communities, respectively. The occurrence of ochratoxin A is more frequent and less specific concerning the botanical composition. This mycotoxin was found in both,Lolium perenne andFestuca arundinacea in varying years. The incidence of ochratoxin A depends on year and is apparently related to the weather conditions in autumn and winter. There was no evidence that particular locatio8/22/2008 12:57PMns have a higher or a lower risk for high ochratoxin A or zearalenone concentrations than others. Peak values in individual swards are not intermittent over the years.

Taking into consideration the fact that in recent years weather conditions were sufficient to feed cattle on pasture until late autumn or early winter, an experiment was carried out during the years 2000 and 2003 on a low input pasture to show the effect of the pre-utilization date (June, July, August) and the harvest date in the autumn/winter period (November, December, January) on the accumulation of the following secondary metabolites formed by fungi: ergosterol (ERG), ochratoxin A (OA) and zearalenone (ZEA) in the autumn-saved herbage. The highest levels of concentration of these metabolites were 470.3, 1.63 and 34.9 ng g )1 respectively. Lower ERG levels were influenced by later pre-utilization, which is a logical consequence of the shorter period of time for field toxigenic fungi development. Preutilization in August is strongly recommended as the concentration of ochratoxin A (OA) in the autumn-saved herbage in January was the lowest (not much changed in comparison with earlier harvest). Later harvest was also affected by higher ZEA concentrations in the analysed samples, which indicates that, under conditions of prolonged pasture utilization, field toxigenic fungi (producing ZEA) increased their population and had proper weather conditions stimulating the biosynthesis of the toxin. The later suggests that the final harvest of autumnsaved herbage should be made rather in December than in January. Higher levels of humidity influenced higher concentrations of ERG and ZEA in the autumn-saved herbage.

No information is available regarding the mineral content of autumn‐saved herbage during winter grazing under Central European conditions. Therefore, P, K, Na, Mg and Ca concentrations of autumn‐saved growths of Festuca arundinacea and Lolium perenne were analysed considering the potential influence of pre‐utilization (saved from June or July), date of winter harvest (December, January, February) and year (three winters). For all years date of winter harvest was the main source of variance, whereas date of preceding cut had no relevant effect on the mineral concentrations during winter. Already in December P [2.3 to 4.0 g kg−1 dry matter (DM)], Na (0.3 to 3 g kg−1 DM) and Mg (1.0 to 2.4 g kg−1 DM) concentrations were mostly below the required levels for ruminants. The lowest values were detected in February. K levels ranged between 6.6 g kg−1 DM in February and 23.4 g kg−1 DM in December; on average, K concentrations decreased about 10 g kg−1 DM with advancing winter. Ca concentrations (2.9 to 7.4 g kg−1 DM) hardly changed during winter. Related to higher growth rates of F. arundinacea before December, P and Ca concentrations were diluted, but regarding Mg, more wintergreen F. arundinacea reached higher values than L. perenne especially at the beginning of winter.

131Vicia sativa and Trifolium resupinatum are indigenous in the Mediterranean area and Asia (Mansfeld 1986). Both legumes are annual under Central European conditions (Uehling 1973) and are cultivated in a pure stand or in a mixture (Mansfeld 1986). Li�le information about the forage quality of V. sativa grown under European conditions (e.g. Wivstad et al. 1990) is available in contrast to the well-documented forage value of T. resupinatum (Puffe et al. 1984, Nonn 1988/1989. The voluntary intake of both, T. resupinatum (Ziegenbein 1965) and V. sativa, is high. Thomson et al. (1990) found a higher voluntary intake of V. sativa compared with other legumes such as Lathyrus sativus and Pisum sativum with a comparable digestibility. Compared with T. resupinatum the seed costs of V. sativa are nearly twice as high, but growing V. sativa in a mixture with grass or another supporting crop reduces the costs considerably. L. multiflorum gaudinii is apparently a suitable companion to the legumes. Its growth and quality aspects in pure stands are well documented (Herrmann 1999). The aim of this experiment was to analyse the performance of V. sativa in relation to dry ma�er yield and forage quality when compared with T. resupinatum and L. multiflorum gaudinii grown under Central European conditions as catch crops either in pure stand or in mixture at early and late sowing and harvest dates. MATERIAL AND METHODSIn order to determine the development of important quality aspects of V. sativa and T. resupinatum grown as catch crops in pure stand and in mixture with L. multiflorum gaudinii, a two year field experiment designed as a split plot with four replications (Table 1) was carried out near Giessen, Central Germany, 160 m above see level. The soil is a Pseudogley with a pH-value of 6.0. The meteorological data of July to March in both years of the study are shown in Figure 1. The weather station at Giessen gives mean annual rainfall and temperature values of 609 mm and 9.0°C. The summer and autumn of year 1 were warm and dry in contrast to spring and summer ABSTRACTIn a field experiment the development of dry ma�er yield and forage quality of the catch crop Vicia sativa L. compared with Trifolium resupinatum L. was investigated and the suitability for cultivation in a mixture with Lolium multiflorum ssp. gaudinii (Parl.) Schinz et Keller was tested. The legumes and mixtures sowed in early July or August, respectively, were harvested at different dates from early September until late October/early November. The sowing date had the greatest impact on dry ma�er yield, crude protein content and net energy for lactation (= NEL). Vicia sativa yielded more dry ma�er than Trifolium resupinatum, especially at low temperatures and under short-day conditions. At late sowing Vicia sativa should be preferred to Trifolium resupinatum due to a be�er stability of yield. Vicia sativa had a higher crude protein content but a lower NEL than Trifolium resupinatum. In a mixture with Lolium multiflorum the differences in energy concentration bet...

No abstract

In addition to the results published in the first communication (Opitz von Boberfeld et al., 2006) this paper presents crude protein, energy (ME) and ergosterol concentrations of autumn saved herbage at different sites in Central Germany, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Within these sites, the influence of the factors pre-utilisation and winter harvest date was tested over three consecutive years. Related to the different climatic conditions of the sites, crude protein concentrations of the growths pre-utilised in July varied from 149 g/kg in November to 134 g/kg of dry matter (DM) in January. The influence of climatic conditions was different on each location and varied depending on the year. Generally, the consistent effect of the factor "site" related to altitude could not be observed. While the energy concentrations decreased with advancing winter and partly reached the values below 6 MJ ME/kg of DM in January, the ergosterol concentrations increased. The results demonstrate that under Central European conditions autumn saved herbage, pre-utilised in July, could provide adequate quantity and quality for suckler cows until December. Afterwards, the utilisation of preserved forages becomes essential.