Hay-Meadows Production and Weed Dynamics as Influenced by Management

Abstract

Managers of extensive livestock systems generally have 2 goals for permanent grassland management: to obtain sufficient dry matter to feed animals and to avoid the establishment and dominance of unpalatable species. Hay production in French Pyrenean meadows is dependant on the need to balance grazing and cutting dates to produce maximum biomass for hay stock and to prevent seed recruitment of Chaerophyllum aureum L., one of the major invasive unpalatable species. Experiments and observations on a set of meadows within farms show that optimal dates calculated from degree-days for cutting or spring grazing of C. aureum fitted to seed production and apex development respectively, decreases hay yield. This decrease is related to the earliness of the cut in regard to sward growth or to the biomass loss by senescence due to the vegetative regrowth of the sward after spring grazing. Compromises and choices have to be made for each meadow by the farmer according to its potential production, the risk of invasion by C. aureum, and its role in the forage system.

Nutritional Quality of Plant Species in Pyrenean Hay Meadows of High Diversity

“…The fodder quality values of Taraxacum officinale have already been pointed out in previous works [5,7,66]. Regarding Chaerophyllum aureum, Magda et al [50] reported that it is palatable only at a very early stage, due to the concentration of lignified tissues in its shoots. Its ADL values in this work were not a limiting factor for its quality, as it had the third highest DDM value.…”

“…It was observed that some forage plants which have traditionally been assigned a value of zero quality were voluntarily selected for consumption by the animals, such that their palatability may be underestimated in the pastoral value method [40]. Of the nine species that did not appear in the list of Farruggia et al [41], we also found evidence of grazing consumption for Cerastium fontanum [48], Anthyllis vulneraria [49], Chaerophyllum aureum [50], and Heracleum sphondylium [21].…”

“…Heracleum sphondylium also presented good PDI content and its Ca:P ratio was within the optimal range; it has been previously considered to be of high feed value [7]. However, for others [9,50] this Umbelliferae is undesirable, more for its capacity to become dominant in the meadow vegetation in certain environments (postponing cuttings in the summer causes the full maturation of seeds and their dissemination) than for its bromatological composition. In the meadows studied, their cover is reduced (Table 2) and their nutritional quality is remarkable (Table 3).…”

Characterizing and predicting plant phenology in species‐rich grasslands

“…The start of stem elongation, which is probably related to photoperiod, is a key variable, because defoliation after this stage leads to a leafy regrowth with a slower herbage growth rate than for reproductive growth (Duru et al. , 2002; Magda et al. , 2003).…”

“…In the case of non‐removal of the apex in spring, late defoliation allows sexual reproduction of grassland species. Populations of desirable and undesirable species, which depend exclusively on sexual reproduction to maintain their populations, can be limited according to whether hay‐making occurs before or after seed dispersal (Magda et al. , 2003).…”