scholarly journals Estimation of ergovaline intake of cows from grazed perennial ryegrass containing NEA2 or standard endophyte

2017 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 197-203
Author(s):  
C.C. Eady ◽  
J.R. Corkran ◽  
K.M. Bailey ◽  
G.A. Kerr ◽  
A.M. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Dairy Cow ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Epichloë Festucae ◽  
Farm Systems ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Production Effects

Abstract Ergovaline concentration was measured monthly from December 2015 to April 2016 in herbage of perennial ryegrass pastures containing NEA2 or standard endophyte (SE) in the Waikato, Manawatu and Canterbury. Ergovaline concentrations were then combined with estimated pasture intake, pasture botanical composition and cow liveweight data from experimental dairy farm systems in the Waikato and Canterbury to estimate dairy cow ergovaline intake (mg/kg LW0.75/day). For the diploid ryegrass 'Trojan' with NEA2 estimated ergovaline intake ranged from 0.01 to 0.029 mg/kg LW0.75/day, levels at which no significant animal production effects have been reported. Ergovaline intake of tetraploid ryegrass 'Bealey NEA2' was at least an order of magnitude lower than this. For the diploid ryegrass, 'Bronsyn' with SE, ergovaline intake was 0.016 to 0.056 mg/kg LW0.75/day, which at the highest level carried a ~20% risk of causing animal production effects for 15% of the samples. AR1 and AR37 pastures, used as controls, contained nil or trace amounts of ergovaline. Keywords: alkaloid, Epichloë festucae var. lolii, Lolium

Management of lucerne for sheep grazing on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (71) ◽  
pp. 726 ◽  
Author(s):  
GT McKinney
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Continuous Grazing ◽  
Farm Systems ◽  
Annual Grasses

Eight whole-farm systems of managing lucerne pasture were compared at one high (near optimum) stocking rate of breeding ewes. These systems were continuous grazing (C), a 2-paddocks (2P), two 3-paddocks (3P), three 6-paddocks and one 12-paddocks rotations. Pasture density, yield and composition were almost solely dependent on spelling time. Maximum lucerne density was maintained when spelling times averaged more than 50 days over the year. Near maximum contributions of annual grasses were achieved when spelling times were less than 45 days. Therefore, to optimize persistence of important pasture components a 'minimum spelling time' policy is suggested. This time ranges approximately from 53 weeks in summer to 8 weeks in winter. Animal production appeared to depend on botanical composition and the extent to which lucerne stem was allowed to develop. Where lucerne failed to persist, or spelling times were long, liveweight gain was low over summer. Thus production was lower on C and 12P respectively, than other systems, and 2P and 3P gave the best overall production.

Measuring the cost of environmental compliance for Waikato dairy farmers - a survey approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 159-166
Author(s):  
T.O.R. Macdonald ◽  
J.S. Rowarth ◽  
F.G. Scrimgeour
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Environmental Compliance ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Farm Systems ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Farm System ◽  
Survey Approach

The link between dairy farm systems and cost of environmental compliance is not always clear. A survey of Waikato dairy farmers was conducted to establish the real (non-modelled) cost of compliance with environmental regulation in the region. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered to improve understanding of compliance costs and implementation issues for a range of Waikato farm systems. The average oneoff capital cost of compliance determined through a survey approach was $1.02 per kg milksolids, $1490 per hectare and $403 per cow. Costs experienced by Waikato farmers have exceeded average economic farm surplus for the region in the past 5 years. As regulation increases there are efficiencies to be gained through implementing farm infrastructure and farm management practice to best match farm system intensity. Keywords: Dairy, compliance, farm systems, nitrogen, Waikato

Persistence of perennial ryegrass, tall fescue and cocksfoot following annual sowings: influence of grass species, ryegrass cultivar and pasture age on yield, composition and density

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Maxwell ◽  
Grant Edwards ◽  
Katherine Tozer ◽  
Gerald Cosgrove
Keyword(s):  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Tall Fescue ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Release Date ◽  
Confounding Effect ◽  
Pasture Grass ◽  
Age Cohort ◽  
Tiller Density ◽  
Pasture Age

Persistence is an important component of perennial pasture-grass productivity. Defining traits that affect persistence is essential for improving pasture longevity through plant breeding and for identifying persistence traits that should be included in cultivar ranking indices. Compared with conventional longitudinal studies, where a single sowing is monitored over time, repeated annual sowings allow the effects on persistence of sowing year and the ensuing interactions between environment and age of pasture to be identified. An experiment was commenced in 2015 under sheep grazing in Canterbury and in 2016 under cattle grazing in Waikato, where eight cultivars of perennial ryegrass representing different ploidy, flowering date, and cultivar age (release date), and one cultivar each of tall fescue and cocksfoot were sown in four randomised complete blocks in autumn each year. This paper reports interim data on spring and autumn pasture yield, composition, and density of 3-year-old, 2-year-old and 1-year-old pastures exposed to the same environmental conditions within the same, single year. There were significant effects on yield, botanical composition, basal cover and tiller density due to cultivar, pasture age, and their interaction. When the confounding effect of year-to-year variation was removed by comparing each age cohort in the same year, the underlying differences among grass species and cultivars, and ages of pasture, is starting to reveal the nature of this influence on pasture persistence.

The control of slender thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus L. and C. tenuiflorus Curt. (Compositae), in pasture by grazing management

1973 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 831 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Bendall
Keyword(s):  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Economical Method ◽  
Farm Programme ◽  
Improved Pasture

The effect of grazing management on slender thistle populations and botanical composition of improved pasture was studied in two field trials in southern Tasmania. Deferring grazing until winter or spring reduced slender thistle populations in both trials. The reasons underlying these observations are discussed. Spring grazing favourably altered pasture botanical composition by increasing the frequency of perennial ryegrass and subterranean clover and reducing the frequency of weed grasses. These changes arc discussed in relation to thistle control. It is suggested that deferred autumn grazing may be incorporated into the farm programme as an economical method for the control of slender thistle in pasture.

Valuing forages for genetic selection: what traits should we focus on?

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 869 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Chapman ◽  
G. R. Edwards ◽  
A. V. Stewart ◽  
M. McEvoy ◽  
M. O'Donovan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Genetic Selection ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Yield Data ◽  
Feeding Value

Failure over the past two to three decades to implement industry-led, systematic forage evaluation systems that translate forage performance data to animal production and economics means that the livestock industries are poorly positioned to judge how much economic benefit they are gaining from forage plant improvement and to propose future priorities and targets. The present paper identifies several knowledge gaps that must be filled to enable the value being delivered to pasture-based livestock industries by forage improvement to be determined, demonstrated to farmers and increased in the future. Seasonal yield, total annual yield, nutritive value and feeding value of pasture are all important traits for driving the productivity of pasture-based livestock production systems. From a farm systems perspective, persistence of the yield or quality advantage of new cultivars is also economically important. However, this is the least well defined of the productivity traits considered in the paper. Contrary to anecdotal reports, evidence indicates that the genetic potential of modern ryegrass cultivars to survive in grazed pastures is at least equivalent to that of older cultivars. Plant breeding in Europe and New Zealand has changed the seasonal yield, quality and intake potential of perennial ryegrass. On the basis of dry matter (DM) yield data from small-plot evaluation trials, the New Zealand forage value index indicates that the top-ranked perennial ryegrass cultivars offer between NZ$280 and NZ $650/ha per year potential additional operating profit to dairy businesses (depending on region), compared with a historical genetic base of cultivars that were first entered into yield testing programs between 1991 and 1996. The equivalent figure in Ireland (including nutritive value effects) is about €325/ha per year. These estimates are yet to be confirmed in animal production studies. In intensive dairy systems, current rates of genetic gain in DM yield lag well behind realised rates of gain in animal genetics and associated increases in feed demand per animal. Genetic gains in yield need to double from current rates (estimated at 0.5% per year); but, it is not known whether this is possible in an outcrossing species such as perennial ryegrass, which is normally grown in a mixture with other species, especially white clover. Improvements in DM yield in seasons where extra DM has greatest economic value in grazing systems should dominate breeding objectives, but this must now be augmented by consideration of the environmental impacts of intensive pasture-based livestock production systems and opportunities to mitigate this through germplasm selection. There is less evidence that nutritive or feeding value of ryegrass cultivars significantly limits animal production and profitability and useful improvements have already been made using tetraploids and later heading material.

scholarly journals VelA and LaeA are Key Regulators of Epichloë festucae Transcriptomic Response during Symbiosis with Perennial Ryegrass

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Rahnama ◽  
Paul Maclean ◽  
Damien J. Fleetwood ◽  
Richard D. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Cell Wall ◽  
Secondary Metabolism ◽  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Global Regulator ◽  
Symbiotic Interaction ◽  
Fungal Cell ◽  
Transcriptomic Response ◽  
Epichloë Festucae ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
The Impact

VelA (or VeA) is a key global regulator in fungal secondary metabolism and development which we previously showed is required during the symbiotic interaction of Epichloë festucae with perennial ryegrass. In this study, comparative transcriptomic analyses of ∆velA mutant compared to wild-type E. festucae, under three different conditions (in culture, infected seedlings, and infected mature plants), were performed to investigate the impact of VelA on E. festucae transcriptome. These comparative transcriptomic studies showed that VelA regulates the expression of genes encoding proteins involved in membrane transport, fungal cell wall biosynthesis, host cell wall degradation, and secondary metabolism, along with a number of small secreted proteins and a large number of proteins with no predictable functions. In addition, these results were compared with previous transcriptomic experiments that studied the impact of LaeA, another key global regulator of secondary metabolism and development that we have shown is important for E. festucae–perennial ryegrass interaction. The results showed that although VelA and LaeA regulate a subset of E. festucae genes in a similar manner, they also regulated many other genes independently of each other suggesting specialised roles.

The effects of sodium and sulphur fertilizers on dairy cow production

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 ◽  
pp. 25-25
Author(s):  
C.J.C. Phillips ◽  
P.C. Chiy ◽  
J.A. Avezinius
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Dairy Cow ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Industrial Emissions ◽  
Sulphur Fertilizer ◽  
The Uk ◽  
S Fertilizers

Fertilisers are usually evaluated by their effects on herbage DM yield and occasionally herbage composition. Rarely are the effects on animal production considered, even though there is evidence for example that increasing the sodium (Na) contents of herbage can increase the milk yield of dairy cows (Chiy and Phillips, 1991), and that dietary sulphur (S) contents in excess of l-2g/kg DM will lead to reduced intake and productivity in ruminants (Raisbeck, 1982). In the UK the use of sulphur fertilizer is widely advocated, since herbage growth is often restricted by deficiency now that industrial emissions have been reduced. Sulphur fertilizer increases herbage S content, but Na fertilizers can affect herbage S content and S utilization by ruminants (Chiy et al., 1994). The effects of Na and S fertilizers were therefore studied with particular emphasis on herbage composition and dairy cow production.

Perennial ryegrass breeding in New Zealand: A dairy industry perspective

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia M. Lee ◽  
Cory Matthew ◽  
Errol R. Thom ◽  
David F. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Genetic Improvement ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Dairy Industry ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Breeding Programs ◽  
Improvement Programs ◽  
Pasture Plants

Genetic improvement programs for livestock and pasture plants have been central to the development of the New Zealand (NZ) pastoral industry. Although genetic improvement of livestock is easily shown to improve animal production on-farm, the link between genetic improvement of pasture plants and animal production is less direct. For several reasons, gains in farm output arising from improved plant performance are more difficult to confirm than those arising from livestock improvement, which has led to some debate in the livestock industries about which plant traits to prioritise in future breeding programs to deliver the greatest benefit. This review investigates this situation, with the aim of understanding how genetic improvement of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), the predominant pasture grass, may more directly contribute towards increased productivity in the NZ dairy industry. The review focuses on the dairy industry, since it is the largest contributor to the total value of NZ agricultural exports. Also, because rates of pasture renewal are greater in the dairy industry compared with the sheep and beef industries, genetic gain in pasture plants is likely to have the greatest impact if the correct plant traits are targeted. The review highlights that many aspects of ryegrass growth and ecology have been manipulated through breeding, with evidence to show that plant performance has been altered as a result. However, it is not clear to what extent these gains have contributed to the economic development of the NZ dairy industry. There are opportunities for breeders and scientists to work together more closely in defining economic traits that positively influence pasture performance and to translate this information to objectives for breeding programs, systematically linking information on the measured traits of ryegrass cultivars to economic values for those traits to assist farmer decision-making regarding the most appropriate cultivars to use in their farm system, and better defining genotype × environment interactions in key productivity traits of modern ryegrass cultivars. Changes in priorities for investment of public- and industry-good funds in forage improvement research and development will be needed if these opportunities are to be captured.

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