Cutting Schedules and Maintaining Pure Stands

Effect of a fall cut on dry matter yield, nutritive value, and stand persistence of alfalfa

“…It has been documented that forage quality decreases if the DMY of alfalfa increases and they are related to the stage of maturity of alfalfa [ 8 , 42 ]. The effect stage of maturity when alfalfa is harvested on forage nutritive values has been noted by Hall et al [ 9 ], Kallenbach et al [ 42 ] and Smith [ 3 ] documented that, as plants mature, the stem mass increases more than the leaf mass, which leads to a reduction of the nutritive value of the alfalfa. In 2016 and 2017, ADF concentrations were found to be lowest in plots that were cut in the fall of the previous year on September 15 and September 30 and the highest in plots that were cut on October 15 and October 30.…”

“…Changes in climatic conditions have extended warm or cold periods and often tempt a producer to cut alfalfa during the resting period, which is 4-6 weeks before the first killing frost. But doing this initiates regrowth and reduces root reserves during a critical time [3]. Recommendations concerning the length of the fall resting period in alfalfa A C C E T E D 2 production are still under question.…”

The South African perennial legume Lebeckia ambigua sustainably supports livestock production on infertile soils in rain-fed agro-ecosystems

“…This suggested that by the end of the experimental period, the growth rate across all treatments was the result of increased FOO, rather than differences caused by additional effects of grazing. Initially, the reduced PGR was likely to have been caused by the stressed state of the grazed plants (Gaspar et al 2002), their consequent reduced leaf area index (Parsons et al 1988;Frame and Laidlaw 2011;Lemaire and Chapman 1996) and their depleted resources in the roots (Belsky 1986;Smith 1972). Similar findings have been reported for other plant species, where defoliation has had a negative impact on the subsequent growth (Sternberg et al 2006;Ferraro and Oesterheld 2002;Taddese et al 2002), but the magnitude of these effects measured in the current study is larger than other studies.…”

The impact of actual and surrogate variegated cutworm stubble phytophagy on the growth and yield of alfalfa

“…The association between the cutting of alfalfa and the cyclic changes in root weight, and accumulated carbohydrates in the roots and to a lesser extent in the crown, has been demonstrated by many studies (Grueb and Wedin 1971, Nelson and Smith 1968a, Smith 1972, Smith and Nelson 1967. (Hodgkinson 1973, Hodgkinson et al 1972).…”