Forage Harvest Timing Impact on Biomass Quality from Native Warm‐Season Grass Mixtures

McIntosh, David W.; Bates, Gary E.; Keyser, Patrick D.; Allen, Fred L.; Harper, Craig A.; Waller, John C.; Birckhead, Jessie L.; Backus, William M.

doi:10.2134/agronj2015.0560

Cited by 19 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Grass and hay samples were dried at 55 °C for 48 h and then ground to 1 mm. Samples were analyzed for nutrient composition using near-infrared spectroscopy technology (FOSS 5000, FOSS NIRSystems, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN, USA) as previously described [ 18 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study of Behaviour and Performance of Confined or Pastured Cows During the Dry Period

Black

Krawczel

2016

Animals

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Simple SummaryPasture and freestall systems offer benefits and consequences during lactation but have not been investigated during the dry period. The effect of pasture or confined systems during the dry period on behaviour and milk quality was investigated. Freestall housing resulted in more resting behaviour and less locomotor activity during the dry period compared to pastured cows. At calving, freestall housed cows performed fewer lying bouts and less locomotor activity compared to pastured cows. Pasture resulted in less aggression around feeding but high respiration rates during peak heat times. Pasture during the dry period altered lying behavior, reduced feed bunk aggression and increased heat stress behaviors.AbstractThe objectives of this study were to determine the effect of the dry cow management system (pasture or confined) on: (1) lying behaviour and activity; (2) feeding and heat stress behaviours; (3) intramammary infections, postpartum. Non-lactating Holstein cows were assigned to either deep-bedded, sand freestalls (n = 14) or pasture (n = 14) using rolling enrollment. At dry-off, cows were equipped with an accelerometer to determine daily lying time (h/d), lying bouts (bouts/d), steps (steps/d) and divided into periods: far-off (60 to 15 d prepartum), close-up (14 to 1 d prepartum), calving (calving date) and postpartum (1 to 14 d postpartum). Respiration rates were recorded once weekly from dry off to calving from 1300 to 1500 h. Feeding displacements were defined as one cow successfully displacing another from the feed bunk and were recorded once per week during the 2 h period, immediately after feeding at 800 h. Pastured cows were fed a commercial dry cow pellet during far-off and total mixed ration during close-up, with free access to hay and grazing. Freestall housed cows were fed a total mixed ration at far-off and close-up. Cows housed in freestalls were moved to a maternity pen with a mattress at commencement of labour. Pastured cows calved in pasture. After calving, all cows were commingled in a pen identical to the freestall housing treatment. Cows housed in freestalls laid down for longer during far-off and close-up periods, had fewer lying bouts during the calving period and took fewer steps throughout the study period when compared to pastured cows. Freestall housed cows experienced more displacements after feeding than did pastured cows. Respiration rates increased with an increasing temperature humidity index, more in pastured cows than in freestall housed cows. Pastured cows altered their lying behaviour and activity, suggesting a shift in time budget priorities between pastured and confined dry cows. Pastured cows also experienced less aggression around feeding but may be more susceptible to heat stress.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study of Behaviour and Performance of Confined or Pastured Cows During the Dry Period

Black

Krawczel

2016

Animals

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“…NWSG polycultures in terms of hay production. McIntosh et al (2015McIntosh et al ( , 2016 investigated similar treatments with fertilized fields and observed greatest biomass yields in fields with Switchgrass when harvested in the fall, but their results also indicated changes in harvest yields between early boot and early seedhead stages. Adler et al (2009) had observed decreasing biomass yields with increasing species richness but had no comparison to a monoculture, only increasing species richness among Conservation Reserve Program fields.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Harvest timing could have greater influence on the quality of biomass or forage from NWSG polycultures and Switchgrass monocultures than plant diversity (Ball et al 2007;McIntosh et al 2015McIntosh et al , 2016. Biomass for biofuel production encourages fall biomass harvests after the first frost to maximize translocation of plant nutrients to roots for storage reserves before harvest (McIntosh et al 2015(McIntosh et al , 2016Muir et al 2001;Sanderson et al 1996;Vogel et al 2002). However, delaying harvest to early spring can allow for additional nutrient loss while maintaining similar caloric content for producing quality biomass feedstock (Johnson and Gresham 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, leached nutrients such as N, K, and S can remain in the system rather than be removed from fall Switchgrass harvests (Gamble et al 2015, Johnson andGresham 2014). Concomitantly, delaying harvest to minimize interference with nesting birds would favor biomass production over forage because of increased yield and decreased nutrients (McIntosh et al 2015(McIntosh et al , 2016.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…While Switchgrass monocultures were better suited for maximizing biomass production, NWSG polycultures could provide concomitant benefits of wildlife habitat and biomass for biofuel production, thereby increasing the appeal of converting marginal land for biomass production. Adjusting harvest timing could generate greater nutritional content for cattle (Hedtcke et al 2014, McIntosh et al 2016, Sanderson et al 1999, Trócsányi et al 2009 while providing additional feedstock supplies for refineries (Anteau et al 2011, McIntosh et al 2015, Richard 2010, Sanderson et al 1999, but more research is needed across ecoregions including an examination of potential detrimental effects on wildlife communities (e.g., harvest practices destroying breeding grassland bird nests; Roth et al 2005Perlut et al 2006. Seed mixes can drive future plant communities if seedbank competition is minimal and could be tailored to meet landowner interests regarding biofuel and forage production.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Forage or Biofuel: Assessing Native Warm-Season Grass Production among Seed Mixes and Harvest Frequencies within a Wildlife Conservation Framework

Iglay

Conkling

DeVault

et al. 2019

Southeastern Naturalist

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Native warm-season grasses (NWSG) are gaining merit as biofuel feedstocks for ethanol production with potential for concomitant production of cattle forage and wildlife habitat provision. However, uncertainty continues regarding optimal production approaches for biofuel yield and forage quality within landscapes of competing wildlife conservation objectives. We used a randomized complete block design of 4 treatments to compare vegetation structure, forage and biomass nutrients, and biomass yield between Panicum virgatum (Switchgrass) monocultures and NWSG polycultures harvested once or multiple times near West Point, MS, 2011-2013. Despite taller vegetation and greater biomass in Switchgrass monocultures, NWSG polycultures had greater vegetation structure heterogeneity and plant diversity that could benefit wildlife. However, nutritional content from harvest timings optimal for wildlife conservation (i.e., late dormant season-collected biomass and midsummer hay samples) demonstrated greater support for biofuel production than quality cattle forage. Future research should consider testing various seed mixes for maximizing biofuel or forage production among multiple site conditions with parallel observations of wildlife use.

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Overseeding cool‐season annual grasses into dormant lowland switchgrass stands

et al. 2020

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Improved use of the land resource used to grow switchgrass (SG; Panicum virgatum L.), whether for biomass or forage production, could be achieved by dormant-season overseeding with cool-season annual grasses (CAGs). Cereal rye (Secale cereale L.), ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were overseeded into an established, mature stand of lowland ('Alamo') SG for two consecutive years (2010-2011) at a study site located near Greeneville, TN. Three harvest timings were imposed on CAG (15 April, 1 May, and 15 May). Yield of CAG differed (p = 0.001) by year, species (rye = 6.8, ryegrass = 5.0, wheat = 5.1 Mg ha −1), and harvest time (15 April = 2.7, 1 May = 6.5, 15 May = 7.7 Mg ha −1), but these factors did not interact. Switchgrass yield the summer following establishment of CAGs differed (p = .001) by year (11.1 and 14.7 Mg ha −1 , in 2011 and 2012, respectively) but not by CAG species or harvest date. Tiller density of SG followed the same pattern as yield (2011 = 75 m −2 ; 2012 = 147 m −2). Thus, this study provided no evidence that any of the three CAGs, when planted for two consecutive years into dormant SG, regardless of harvest date, had a negative effect on SG yield or stand vigor; therefore, overseeding CAGs may be a practical way for producers to improve land resource use when growing SG. However, evaluation of production costs for CAGs indicated that May harvests would be required for overseeding to be cost-effective.

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Forage Harvest Timing Impact on Biomass Quality from Native Warm‐Season Grass Mixtures

Cited by 19 publications

References 37 publications

A Case Study of Behaviour and Performance of Confined or Pastured Cows During the Dry Period

A Case Study of Behaviour and Performance of Confined or Pastured Cows During the Dry Period

Forage or Biofuel: Assessing Native Warm-Season Grass Production among Seed Mixes and Harvest Frequencies within a Wildlife Conservation Framework

Overseeding cool‐season annual grasses into dormant lowland switchgrass stands

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