The effect of herbage allowance upon the herbage intake and performance of suckler cows and calves

Abstract

Twenty-four Hereford x Friesian cows and their South Devon cross calves were allocated to three herbage allowances allotted daily for three periods of 8 weeks in a Latin square design. The daily allowances were 17, 34 and 51 g dry matter per kg cow plus calf live weight. Milk production was depressed by 0-4 and 17 kg d"' at the medium and low allowances. The corresponding falls in liveweight gain were for cows 016 and 0 75, and for calves 0 07 and 0-34 kg d"'. Residual sward height after grazing gave a better indication of the animals' reaction to sward conditions and the management imposed than actual herbage allowance. The quantity per unit area and the composition of material present were important factors influencing intake. Calves were unable to compete with their dams to maintain herbage intake at the lower allowances and therefore are likely to benefit from additional feeding or creep grazing when residual sward height falls below 6 cm for periods In excess of 1-2 weeks.

Performance of spring-calving beef suckler cows and their progeny on four contrasting grassland management systems

“…The lower milk yield in HL2 compared to HH2 (P = 0.09) and LL2 (P b 0.01) in Year 4 is consistent with previous studies, which have shown that cows on high SR or offered low herbage allowances have lower milk yields [and greater cow liveweight and (or) body condition loss (or lower weight and condition gains)] than cows on lower SR or offered higher herbage allowances and consequently, their calves generally have lower liveweight gains (Drennan, 1971a,b;Baker et al, 1981aBaker et al, ,b, 1982Wright et al, 1994).…”

Herbage intake by Churra ewes grazing at two different sward heights

“…Differences between seasons in the quantity of herbage intake by grazing animals were also noted by several authors (Baker et al, 1980;Penning et al, 1991). Herbage intake increased as digestibility of herbage intake increased and this agrees with the results obtained by several workers (Hodgson, 1968;Hodgson et al, 1991).…”

Comparison of grazing behaviour, dietary overlap and performance in non-lactating domestic ruminants grazing on marginal heathland areas

“…Previous studies performed on perennial ryegrass-white clover pastures have shown that cattle intake is significantly reduced under continuous grazing when the mean sward height decreases below 6.0 cm (Baker et al, 1981;Forbes and Hodgson, 1985) and the effect of sward height on suckler cow live weight changes has been clearly observed (Wright and Whyte, 1989;Osoro et al, 2000c). Therefore it is easy to interpret the live weight changes achieved by cows under different available sward heights in the improved area during the grazing season.…”