Competition in perennial ryegrass–white clover mixtures under cutting. 1. Dry‐matter yield, species composition and nitrogen fixation

1998 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elgersma ◽  
Nassiri ◽  
Schlepers
1985 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Stewart ◽  
I. I. McCullough

ABSTRACTSilage cut twice annually (June and August) from a tetraploid red clover/grass sward and three times annually (May, July and September) from a low nitrogen (N) and high N perennial ryegrass/white clover sward was fed in proportion to dry-matter yield from each cut, over a 10-week period, each winter for 3 years to castrated male cattle of initial live weight 401 kg in year 1 and 425 kg in years 2 and 3. The silages were supplemented with 0, 1, 2 and 3 kg concentrate per head daily.Total dry-matter yield from the red clover/grass sward was similar to that from the perennial ryegrass/white clover sward (high N grass) receiving 360 kg N per ha but the digestibility, particularly of first cut material was much lower. Dry-matter production of the low N grass/white clover sward was 0·73 of high N grass sward and produced silages of similar digestibility and fermentation.Dry-matter intakes by the cattle were higher on the legume-based silages in years when clover made a worthwhile contribution to total yield, but this did not significantly improve utilization or animal performance compared with high N grass silage. Mean daily carcass gain per head on red clover/grass silage was 0·41 kg which was significantly less than the 0·61 kg on white clover/grass silage and 0·59 on high N grass (P < 0·001). Carcass output from red clover/grass silage was 618 kg/ha and 629 kg/ha from white clover/grass, both of which were significantly less than the 863 kg/ha from the high N grass silage (P < 0·001). Dressing proportion was also significantly poorer in animals fed red clover/grass silage compared with the other silage types.


Author(s):  
J.P.J. Eerens ◽  
D.L. Ryan

White clover is often listed as one of the factors contributing to profitable pastoral farming in New Zealand. The positive aspects of white clover have been presented in a balanced manner in publications by scientists, environmentalists and farmers able to exploit these positive aspects. Increasingly, pastures contain sub-optimal levels of clover, as a result of pasture management that is detrimental to clover, including the increasing use of fertiliser nitrogen. In some regions of New Zealand, farmers can legitimately point to pests such as the clover root weevil and factors such as the ryegrass endophyte as causing restrictions in clover production, but this is less the case in Southland. Environmental conditions in Southland are well suited for ryegrass-white clover pastures. Wellmanaged ryegrass-white clover pastures containing the best regional cultivars can achieve high financial returns. A number of trials at the Gore Research Station are reviewed; they demonstrated that on mixed ryegrass-white clover swards farmers can produce nearly 25% more dry matter, 40% more carcass weight and 25% more wool than on pastures with ryegrass alone receiving 270 kg N/ha/year. The yield advantage would have been greater still if they were compared with typical Southland pastures. Not only was 180 kg more carcass and 17 kg more wool produced per hectare on mixed swards, but nitrogen fixation by clover produced more than $300 worth of nitrogen per hectare. The yield advantage achievable from the ryegrass-white clover swards requires specific pasture management, particularly in spring- summer and the use of adapted white clover cultivars. Keywords: cultivars, Lolium perenne, nitrogen, pasture production, perennial ryegrass, set stocking, Trifolium repens, white clover, wool


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Breanna Taylor ◽  
Anna Mills ◽  
Malcolm Smith ◽  
Richard Lucas ◽  
Derrick Moot

Dry matter yield and botanical composition of four grazed dryland pasture types were compared over 8 years in summer-dry conditions at Ashley Dene, Canterbury, New Zealand. The experiment was sown in March 2013 to evaluate cocksfoot (CF)- or meadow fescue/ryegrass hybrid (RG)-based pastures established with either subterranean (Sub) or subterranean and balansa (S+B) clovers. Plantain was included in all pasture types. Perennial ryegrass established poorly on the low soil moisture holding capacity Lismore soil and in Year 2 was re-broadcast into the RG pastures. Despite this, plantain was the main sown species in RG pastures beyond Year 3. Total spring yield was greatest in Year 5 at 6720 kg DM/ha and varied with spring rainfall. Cocksfoot-based pastures had 60% of sown species present in the spring of Year 8, compared with 28% in RG-based pastures. Balansa clover was only present up to Year 5 after a managed seeding event in the first spring. White clover did not persist in the dryland environment past Year 2. Sub clover yield depended on the time and amount of autumn rainfall but contributed up to 45% of the spring yield. Cocksfoot-sub clover pastures appear to be most resilient in this summer-dry environment with variable spring rainfall.


2017 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 251-256
Author(s):  
L. Rossi ◽  
D.F. Chapman ◽  
G.R. Edwards

Abstract A field experiment was conducted for 12 months under irrigation and cutting management to determine if interactions between perennial ryegrass and white clover cultivars of different phenotypes could affect pasture yield and botanical composition during establishment. Four ryegrass and four clover cultivars, differing in leaf and tiller/stolon traits, were grown in all combinations (n=16), along with monocultures of each (n=8), as sub-plots under two nitrogen fertiliser levels (100 or 325 kg N/ha/ year). Dry matter yield and botanical composition were measured on nine occasions and ryegrass and clover population densities were determined four times. Total annual yield was similar for all mixture combinations due to substitution between the sward components. While there were significant yield differences among ryegrass or clover cultivar monocultures, these seldom explained differences in mixture yields. Mixtures yielded more DM than ryegrass monocultures under both N treatments (+1.3 to +3.9 t DM/ha/year). Keywords: perennial ryegrass, white clover, dairy, dry matter yield, nitrogen fertiliser, phenotype, competition


2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Marshall ◽  
M. Fothergill ◽  
E. Rees ◽  
E. Sizer-Coverdale ◽  
R. P. Collins

Author(s):  
Numan Kılıçalp ◽  
Mustafa Avcı ◽  
Hatice Hızlı ◽  
Rüştü Hatipoğlu

This research was conducted to determine forage yield, chemical composition, milk yield and milk composition in dairy cattle grazing on pasture established with species and mixtures of Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne, Bastion,PR), Orchardgrass(Dactylis glometata, Pizza,OG) and White clover(Trifolium repens, Huia,WC). In this research conducted for two years, the grazing experiment was carried out according to a change over trial design. For this purpose, a total of 6 Holstein Friesian cows (at the 2nd lactation and with an average of 520 ± 26 kg live weight) were used for two periods, each of which consisted of 30 days (8 days of adaptation and 22 days of the basis period). The milk nutritional composition of the animals (dry matter, fat and protein content) was determined in the last three days in the last five consecutive days of each lactation period. The acid detergent fiber (ADF) content of pasture obtained from Perennial ryegrass + White clover mixture (PRWC) was found to be lower than that obtained from the other two (PR and OG) pasture and Net Energy Lactation (NEL) content was found higher in the first grazing period in the first year. However, the effect of the investigated pastures on milk yield was not significant, but it was found that the effects on milk protein yield in the first year and dry matter of milk in the second year were significant. In the first year of grazing period, milk yield, milk fat yield and protein yield were found to be significant. The results of this study showed that under these operating conditions, the botanical composition of the pasture had no effect on the amount and composition of the milk, but the milk yield decreased as the vegetation period advanced.


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