‘Florigraze’ and ‘Arbrook’ Rhizoma Peanut as Pasture for Growing Holstein Heifers

Abstract

‘Florigraze’ and ‘Arbrook’ are the most widely used cultivars of rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.), but performance of ruminants grazing these cultivars has not been compared. The objective of this study was to determine sward characteristics and performance of Holstein replacement heifers (Bos taurus) on continuously stocked pastures of Florigraze and Arbrook growing on a loamy, siliceous, hyperthermic Grossarenic Paleudult soil. Herbage mass and allowance did not differ between cultivars during 3 yr of grazing and averaged 2840 kg DM ha−1 and 2.25 kg of forage kg−1 of animal live weight, respectively. Percentage of Arbrook in pasture herbage mass decreased from Year 1 (89%) to Year 3 (66%), while percentage of Florigraze remained relatively constant (90 to 87%). Average herbage crude protein (CP) concentration and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) were greater in Florigraze than in Arbrook (177 vs. 161 g kg−1 and 705 vs. 661 g kg−1, respectively). Average stocking rate varied little between cultivars, and animal performance was generally similar until Year 3. With a much lower percentage of rhizoma peanut in herbage mass for Arbrook than Florigraze pastures in Year 3, average daily gain (ADG; 701 vs. 516 g) and gain ha−1 (575 vs. 418 kg) were greater for heifers grazing Florigraze than for those grazing Arbrook. Florigraze appears better suited for pasture programs with continuous stocking, primarily because of superior persistence, leading to greater animal performance with time.

Growth Habit of Rhizoma Peanut Affects Establishment and Spread when Strip Planted in Bahiagrass Pastures

“…Entry differences in RP frequency followed a similar pattern to ground cover. Previous research with RP has shown that upright-growing Arbrook was less tolerant of continuous stocking than Florigraze, an intermediate type (Hernández Garay et al, 2004). 2).…”

Utilizing Wild Species for Peanut Improvement

“…'Ecoturf' and 'Arblick' were released as cultivars for landscapes by Prine et al (2010) and are used as a groundcover along highways, landscape berms, road medians, and in plantations for soil preservation (Mathews et al, 2000;Hernandez-Garay et al, 2004). The situation significantly changed when a series of major collection expeditions were made to Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina beginning in diseases and nematodes common to peanut, is drought tolerant, and has minimal fertilizer requirements.…”

Herbage Responses and Biological N2 Fixation of Bahiagrass and Rhizoma Peanut Monocultures Compared with their Binary Mixtures

“…Different from most warm-climate forage legumes in Florida, RP is productive and persistent over a wide range of management practices (Ortega-S. et al, 1992). Besides being a source of N to the soil, RP presents good forage nutritive value (Mullenix et al, 2016;Dubeux et al, 2017) and improves animal performance in mixed swards (Hernández Garay et al, 2004). Besides being a source of N to the soil, RP presents good forage nutritive value (Mullenix et al, 2016;Dubeux et al, 2017) and improves animal performance in mixed swards (Hernández Garay et al, 2004).…”