Yield, persistence, forage nutritive value, and preference of perennial ryegrass under grazing

Abstract

Perennial ryegrass (PR) is a quality and high yielding forage that tends to lack winter hardiness to persist in the upper Midwest. The objective was to evaluate yield, stand persistence, forage nutritive value, and preference of experimental populations of winter hardy PR grown in monoculture and in mixture with white clover under livestock grazing. Research was conducted in St. Paul and Grand Rapids, MN. Meadow fescue (MF), tall fescue (TF), orchardgrass (OG), a reference PR, and two experimental populations of PR were grazed every 32 days by either horses (St. Paul) or cow-calf pairs (Grand Rapids). Prior to grazing, forage yield and quality samples were collected, and post-grazing, fields were visually assessed for the percentage of forage removal to determine preference. Yields of all PR (6.9 to 7.6 Mg ha −1) were similar, but lower compared to other coolseason grasses (CSG). Persistence was similar among all CSG in St. Paul; however, it was lower for all PR in Grand Rapids compared to other CSG. All PR were highly preferred by both horses (≥74% removal) and cattle (≥70% removal) and were consistently among the highest for crude protein (CP; 200 g kg −1), equine digestible energy (DE; 2.35 Mcal kg −1) and bovine metabolizable energy (ME; 2.6 Mcal kg −1), moderate for nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC; 136 g kg −1), and among the lowest for neutral detergent fiber (NDF; 518 g kg −1). Experimental populations of PR produced forage of high nutritive value, but yield and stand persistence may be less compared to other CSG at some locations. 1 INTRODUCTION Cool-season perennial grasses (CSG) are the foundation of productive pastures in the upper Midwest (Allen, Sheaf

Yield, nutrient composition, and horse condition in integrated crabgrass and cool-season grass rotational grazing pasture systems

“…Additionally, the forage processing protocols following sample collection can impact plant soluble carbohydrates ( Pelletier et al, 2010 ). In other equine grazing studies, summer NSC concentrations above 10% have been reported, particularly in perennial ryegrass [ Lolium perenne (L.)] pastures ( Allen et al, 2013 ; Grev et al, 2017 ; Catalano et al, 2020 ). It is possible that integrated grazing with Quick-N-Big CRB could aid in limiting NSC intake in pasture systems with different species composition and/or under alternative growing conditions.…”

“…Extrapolating data from studies in other livestock species is often of limited value in management decisions for horse operations ( Schmitz and Isselstein, 2020 ). Forage preference, grazing behaviors, nutritional requirements, digestive physiology, animal management goals, and drivers of enterprise profitability are vastly different ( NRC, 2007 ; Catalano et al, 2020 ; Schmitz and Isselstein, 2020 ).…”

Forage potential of winter‐hardy perennial ryegrass populations in monoculture and binary alfalfa mixture

“…However, due to their turf‐type parentage, these populations are shorter in statue, which reduces their competitiveness with alfalfa. However, we expect these populations to be more tolerant to defoliation in grazing systems when paired with white clover ( Trifolium repens L.) (Catalano et al., 2020), where short stature is less of an impediment.…”