Forage production and animal husbandry in Korea

Abstract

The livestock industry in Korea is primarily carries out feeding through the utilization of concentrates and rice straw. The amount of imported concentrate is estimated to be more than two thirds (about 11 million metric tons (MT) per year) of the total concentrates required, specifically corn. Recently, about 600 000 MT of forage was recorded to be imported per year. The main feature of grassland agriculture, including forage production, is the dependence on perennial grasses, legumes and high quality annual forage crops, such as corn, sorghum, sudangrass, rye, oats, barley, Italian ryegrass and forage rape, among others. In addition, proper land use and increased animal profitability is maintained through grassland agriculture. The important fields for forage production are upland, paddy land, grassland and forest areas. Rice straw is also one of the most important roughages in Korea. The aim of forage production in the past was to fulfil the domestic need of herbivores, but forage production in 21st century is geared towards international competitiveness in animal husbandry. The most important factor is to enhance forage sufficiency related to environment‐friendly livestock in Korea. Fortunately, there are many possibilities in forage production. A no forage‐sufficiency, no food‐sufficiency; no forage, no cattle concept is emphasized.

Constructing Italian ryegrass yield prediction model based on climatic data by locations in South Korea

“…Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam., IRG) is one of the representative winter forage crops in South Korea that is commonly sowed in autumn and mostly harvested in May (Hides et al 1983;Seo 2005). Italian ryegrass is preferred by farmers as it has high feed value, high acceptability and palatability to animals (Ghesqui ere et al 1996;Jung et al 1996;Ishii et al 2005).…”

Yield Prediction Modeling for Sorghum–Sudangrass Hybrid Based on Climatic, Soil, and Cultivar Data in the Republic of Korea

“…Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid (Sorghum bicolor × Sorghum bicolor var. sudanense, SSH) is a representative summer forage crop in the southern area of the Korean Peninsula [1]. In this area, SSH was seeded during late April to May and its growth duration generally lasted until late September or early October [1].…”

“…sudanense, SSH) is a representative summer forage crop in the southern area of the Korean Peninsula [1]. In this area, SSH was seeded during late April to May and its growth duration generally lasted until late September or early October [1]. The sunlight and soil moisture could be efficiently utilized by SSH to produce biomass, and SSH is not strict to edaphic requirement, high yield could be achieved with enough water and fertilizer in a thick soil layer [2].…”

“…At the same time, the requirement of high-quality domestic forage is drawing great concerns since importing forages costs a lot, and the long-distance transportation may lead to instability of forage quality. In recent years, the SSH cultivated area has ranked the first position among the summer forage crops in this region [1].…”

Yield modeling for prediction of regional whole‐crop barley productivity

“…climatic information, empirical model, productivity prediction, whole-crop barley efficiency through reducing imports of livestock feed while the cost of domestic forage crops such as whole-crop barley is cheaper than imported forages in South Korea (Park et al, 2008;Seo, 2016).…”