Bioperformance evaluation of various summer pasture and winter feeding strategies for cow-calf production

LegesseGetahun,; SmallJulie, A; ScottShannon, L; Kebreab, E.; CrowGary, H; BlockHushton, C; RobinsClayton, D; KhakbazanMohammad,; Paul, MccaugheyW.

doi:10.4141/cjas2011-082

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In both reference years, corn was the preferred grain and silage crop for beef cattle in eastern Canada, while barley was the commonly fed grain and silage crop for beef cattle in western Canada (Hironaka and Freeze 1992;Sheppard et al 2015). The chemical composition of feedstuffs (Table S1, available as Supplementary material for this paper) was primarily based on Canadian sources (Abouguendia 1998;Stewart 1999;Lardner et al 2011;Legesse et al 2012;Lardner 2013; Saskatchewan Forage Council 2014), while nutrient requirements of various cattle categories within the beef production system were derived using NRC-based diet formulation software (NRC 1996; AARD 2011).…”

Section: Feeding Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Greenhouse gas emissions of Canadian beef production in 1981 as compared with 2011

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study compared the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and breeding herd and land requirements of Canadian beef production in 1981 and 2011. In the analysis, temporal and regional differences in feed types, feeding systems, cattle categories, average daily gains and carcass weights were considered. Emissions were estimated using life-cycle assessment (cradle to farm gate), based primarily on Holos, a Canadian whole-farm emissions model. In 2011, beef production in Canada required only 71% of the breeding herd (i.e. cows, bulls, calves and replacement heifers) and 76% of the land needed to produce the same amount of liveweight for slaughter as in 1981. Compared with 1981, in 2011 the same amount of slaughter weight was produced, with a 14% decline in CH4 emissions, 15% decline in N2O emissions and a 12% decline in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use. Enteric CH4 production accounted for 73% of total GHG emissions in both years. The estimated intensity of GHG emissions per kilogram of liveweight that left the farm was 14.0 kg CO2 equivalents for 1981 and 12.0 kg CO2 equivalents for 2011, a decline of 14%. A significant reduction in GHG intensity over the past three decades occurred as a result of increased average daily gain and slaughter weight, improved reproductive efficiency, reduced time to slaughter, increased crop yields and a shift towards high-grain diets that enabled cattle to be marketed at an earlier age. Future studies are necessary to examine the impact of beef production on other sustainability metrics, including water use, air quality, biodiversity and provision of ecosystems services.

show abstract

Section: Feeding Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Greenhouse gas emissions of Canadian beef production in 1981 as compared with 2011

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The paddocks were renovated from 1980 to 1998 in side-by-side AG and G pairs (Legesse et al 2012). Glyphosate herbicide was initially applied on the regrowth prior to a killing frost, subsequently followed by two passes with a tandem disker in the fall.…”

Section: Experimental Pastures and Weather Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of resting perennial pastures during the sensitive pre-dormancy period in western Manitoba: Pasture productivity and beef cattle performance

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

. 2015. Effects of resting perennial pastures during the sensitive pre-dormancy period in western Manitoba: Pasture productivity and beef cattle performance. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 129Á141. The objective of this experiment was to determine whether avoiding grazing during the sensitive pre-dormancy period (ca. 6 wk prior to a dormancy-inducing frost) would improve forage production, stand quality, alfalfa persistence and animal productivity in perennial pastures. There were two pasture species (PS), alfalfaÁgrass (AG) or grass (G), and three grazing phases. Phase I was conventional rotational grazing of all AG and G sections. In Phase II, one half of AG and G was rotationally grazed (conventional treatment, CT) while the other half was not (rested treatment, RT). Resting AG and G in Phase II required transferring RT animals to swath-graze early-seeded cereals. In Phase III, RT animals that swath-grazed in Phase II were moved to graze the rested sections of the pastures while those that grazed the unrested sections (CT animals) were transferred to swath-graze late-seeded cereals. There was no PS (P 0.05) or rest period (P0.13) effect on total forage yield, carrying capacity, forage disappearance and forage residues. There was no effect (P0.13) of resting on botanical composition or yield in AG. The current study did not observe significant benefits of resting on pasture yield, botanical composition or animal performance.Key words: Resting, alfalfa, grass, persistence, pasture, pre-dormancy, meadow brome Durunna, O. N., Baron, V., Scott, S. L., Robins, C., Khakbazan, M. et Block, H. C. 2015. Les effets du repos des paˆturages permanents pendant la pe´riode sensible de pre´-dormance dans l'ouest du Manitoba : productivite´des paˆturages et performances des bovins de boucherie. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 129Á141. L'objectif de cette expe´rience e´tait de de´terminer si restreindre le broutage pendant la pe´riode sensible de pre´-dormance (c.-a`-d. les 6 semaines avant le gel qui provoque la dormance) peut ame´liorer la production de fourrages, la qualite´du mate´riel sur pied, la persistance de la luzerne et la productivite´animale dans les paˆturages permanents. Il y avait deux espe`ces de paˆturage (PS Á « pasture species »), luzerne-foin (AG Á « alfalfaÁ grass ») ou foin (G Á « grass »), et trois phases de broutage. La phase I e´tait le paˆturage tournant traditionnel de toutes les sections AG et G. Dans la phase II, une moitie´d'AG et de G subissaient le paˆturage tournant traditionnel (traitement conventionnel, CT Á « conventional treatment ») tandis que l'autre moitie´ne l'e´tait pas (traitement repos, RT Á « rested treatment »). Le repos des paˆturages AG et G en phase II ne´cessitait le transfert des animaux RT pour qu'ils fasse paˆturage en andain dans les ce´re´ales seme´es de fac¸on pre´coce. Dans la phase III, les animaux RT qui ont fait paˆturage en andain dans la phase II ont e´te´relocalise´s pour brouter les sections des paˆturages mises au repos, tandis que ceux qui ont brouteĺ es sections sans repos (an...

show abstract

“…Legumes have higher protein content than grasses and, as a result, the protein requirements of growing animals can be met to a large degree by adequate legumes in the forage mix. Legesse et al (2012) found that alfalfaÁgrass pasture contained more crude protein, compared to grass pasture.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Forage yield of simple and complex grass–legume mixtures under two management strategies

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Foster, A., Vera, C. L., Malhi, S. S. and Clarke, F. R. 2014. Forage yield of simple and complex grass–legume mixtures under two management strategies. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 41–50. Limited information is available on the dry matter production, protein content and species composition of complex mixtures of introduced perennial forage crop species for hay and pasture in the moister regions of Saskatchewan. A field experiment was sown on 2008 May 27 at Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada, on a thick Black Chernozem (Udic Boroll) silty clay soil, to compare the effects on dry matter yield (DMY), protein content and species composition of perennial forage crop monocultures and mixtures, under a two-cut and a three-cut management system, in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Eleven treatments consisted of monocultures of hybrid bromegrass (Bromus riparius Rehm.×Bromus inermis Leyss.), smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.), crested wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn], intermediate wheatgrass [Agropyron intermedium (Host.) Beauv.] and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.); simple mixtures of each of these individual grass species with alfalfa; a more complex mixture of all these grass species and alfalfa, and a very complex mixture consisting of the complex mixture plus meadow bromegrass (Bromus riparius Rehm.), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), tall fescue [Festuca arundinacea (Schreb.) Wimm.], timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and slender wheatgrass [Elymus trachycaulus (Link) Gould ex Shinners]. The alfalfa was inoculated with rhizobium, and no fertilizer was added to any treatment during the course of the study. The two-cut system yielded higher than the three-cut system in all years. In 2009, the first cutting year, all treatments, especially under the two-cut system, produced similar forage DMY, with monoculture grasses yielding as much as that of their mixture with alfalfa. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, however, monoculture alfalfa and grass–alfalfa treatments had higher DMY than the monoculture grasses. Monoculture alfalfa also showed superior DMY than most grass–alfalfa mixtures, especially during the last 2 yr of the study. In conclusion, the inclusion of alfalfa in forage mixtures, grown in unfertilized soil, significantly increased forage yield, especially after the first production year, and these grass–alfalfa mixtures yielded almost as much as monoculture alfalfa. Also, the inclusion of alfalfa significantly increased the forage protein content over the grass alone treatments. Hybrid bromegrass, grown alone or in mixture with alfalfa, yielded similar to the other grasses tested, while crested wheatgrass did not compete as well as other main grasses, grown alone or in mixture with alfalfa. In this study, the use of complex or very complex mixtures of introduced grasses with alfalfa did not increase DMY over the simple grass–alfalfa mixtures.

show abstract

Bioperformance evaluation of various summer pasture and winter feeding strategies for cow-calf production

Cited by 8 publications

References 22 publications

Greenhouse gas emissions of Canadian beef production in 1981 as compared with 2011

Greenhouse gas emissions of Canadian beef production in 1981 as compared with 2011

Effects of resting perennial pastures during the sensitive pre-dormancy period in western Manitoba: Pasture productivity and beef cattle performance

Forage yield of simple and complex grass–legume mixtures under two management strategies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About