The effects of treading by dairy cows during wet soil conditions on white clover productivity, growth and morphology in a white clover–perennial ryegrass pasture

Menneer, John C.; Ledgard, S. F.; McLay, C. D. A.; Silvester, Warwick B.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2494.2005.00450.x

Cited by 44 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The reduction in clover growth was most noticeable (up to 90% decrease) during the first 156 days after pugging, and accounted for the majority of loss in total fixed N 2 during the 12-month study. This dramatic impact of pugging on clover growth occurred as a result of major pugging damage to plants and loss of residual white clover biomass, which reduced plant numbers and size (Table 3; and see Menneer et al, 2005). Potentially, root growth may have been retarded if the soil surface layers had been compacted by treading, but soil bulk density measurements were not significantly affected by pugging (Table 1).…”

Section: Effects Of Pugging On Amount Of N 2 Fixed and Pasture Producmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In a recent study of white clover-ryegrass pasture under pugging, Menneer et al (2005) highlighted the significance of pugging effects on reducing clover growth and plant morphological development. The aim of this paper is to report on the changes in plant and soil properties that occurred in that study and their effect on annual N 2 fixation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Animal treading during wet soil conditions reduces N2 fixation in mixed clover-grass pasture

Menneer

Ledgard

McLay³

et al. 2005

Plant Soil

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A field experiment was carried out over 12 months to determine the effect of animal treading on N 2 fixation in a mixed white clover-ryegrass pasture. The experimental site was defoliated by mowing for the duration of the study. A single treading event of moderate or severe pugging intensity was initiated in plots during wet spring conditions by using dairy cows at varying stocking rates (4.5 cows 100 m )2 for 1.5 or 2.5 h, respectively). Inputs of dung and urine onto the plots was avoided by overnight housing of the cows and interception of excreta during the pugging event. Soil air-filled porosity decreased from 21% in the nonpugged control to 15À16% in pugged treatments by day 3. Bulk density of soil was not significantly affected by pugging. Soil inorganic N concentration increased in pugged treatments, and was 4-fold greater on day 28 in severely pugged plots compared to non-pugged plots. White clover plant density and plant size was markedly lower in pugged treatments (up to 85% and 72% reduction, respectively under severe pugging). White clover growth was most affected during the first 156 days after pugging (up to 90% decrease under severe pugging), leading to an annual clover dry matter production loss of 9% and 52%, respectively. The proportion of clover N derived from atmospheric N 2 (%Ndfa; estimated by 15 N dilution) was initially reduced (to a lower limit of 43%) by severe pugging (days 28À71) before recovery to control levels (90%) by day 91. Annual N 2 fixation in clover herbage decreased significantly from 76 kg N ha )1 yr )1 in the nonpugged control, to 66 and 36 kg N ha )1 yr )1 under moderate and severe pugging, respectively. Most of this difference was evident within the first 156 days after pugging. Our data indicates that the major loss in fixed N 2 input under pugging was due to reduced clover growth and production resulting from pugging damage and loss of residual white clover biomass by hoof action.

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Section: Effects Of Pugging On Amount Of N 2 Fixed and Pasture Producmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Animal treading during wet soil conditions reduces N2 fixation in mixed clover-grass pasture

Menneer

Ledgard

McLay³

et al. 2005

Plant Soil

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“…Drewry et al 2001;Menneer et al 2005b;Singleton and Addison 1999). The risk of treading damage is great when the soil moisture content is high (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Severe treading damage can have long-lasting effects (>18 months) on physical soil characteristics such as hydraulic conductivity, aggregate size, total porosity, pore size distribution, and bulk density (Singleton et al 2000). Treading damage can significantly decrease pasture plant growth (Drewry et al 2001;Drewry and Paton 2005a;Menneer et al 2005b) and greatly increase denitrification (Menneer et al 2005a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of tillage, simulated cattle grazing and soil moisture on N2O emissions from a winter forage crop

et al. 2008

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Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions to the atmosphere from grazed pasture can be high, especially from urine-affected areas. When pastoral soils are damaged by animal treading, N 2 O emissions may increase. In New Zealand, autumn-sown winter forage crops are often grown as a break-crop prior to resowing pasture. When these crops are grazed in situ over winter (as is common in New Zealand) there is high risk of soil damage from animal treading as soil moisture contents are often high at this time of year. Moreover, the risk of soil damage during grazing increases when intensive tillage practices are used to establish these forage crops. Consequently, winter grazed forage crops may be an important source of N 2 O emissions from intensive pastoral farming systems, and these emissions may be affected by the type of tillage used to establish them. We conducted a replicated field experiment to measure the effects of simulated cattle grazing (mowing followed by simulated treading and the application of synthetic urine) at three soil moisture contents (< field capacity, field capacity and > field capacity) on measured N 2 O emissions from soil under an autumn (March) sown winter forage crop (triticale) established with three levels of tillage intensity: (a) intensive, IT, (b) minimum, MT, or (c) no tillage, NT. In all treatments, bulk density in the top 7.5 cm of the soil was unaffected by treading when simulated grazing occurred at < field capacity. It was increased in the IT plots by 13 and 15% when treading occurred at field capacity and > field capacity, and by 10% in the MT plots trodden at > field capacity. Treading did not significantly increase the bulk density in the NT plots. Emissions of N 2 O from the tillage treatments decreased in the order IT > MT > NT. N 2 O emissions were greatest from plots that were trodden at > field capacity and least from plots trodden at < field capacity. Simulated treading and urine application increased N 2 O emission 2 to 6-fold from plots that had no treading but did receive urine. Urine-amended plots had much greater emissions than plots that had no urine. Overall, the greatest emission of 14.4 kg N ha −1 over 90 days (1.8% of the total urine N applied) was measured from urine-amended IT plots that were trodden at > field capacity. The N 2 O emission from urine-amended NT plots that were trodden at < field capacity was 2.0 kg ha −1 over 90 days (0.25% of the total urine N applied).Decreasing the intensity of tillage used to establish crops and restricting grazing when soils are wet are two of the most effective ways to minimise the risk of high N 2 O emissions from grazed winter forage crops.

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“…Pallic soils occupy c. 10% of New Zealand landscapes, representing 5% of current dairy farmed land area and 9% of the c. 12 000 dairy farms. Grazing cattle on wet soil can damage soil physical properties (Climo & Richardson 1984;Singleton & addison 1999;Greenwood & Mckenzie 2001;Houlbrooke et al 2009), reducing pasture production (Pande et al 2000;Nie et al 2001;Menneer et al 2005). in Southland, cows are usually wintered off the milking platform.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing strategies to protect soil physical properties and maximise pasture yield on a Southland dairy farm

Houlbrooke¹,

Drewry²,

Monaghan³

et al. 2009

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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intensive dairy cattle grazing on wet soil can have a detrimental effect on soil physical quality and consequently on pasture production. Soil physical properties (porosity, bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity) of a Pallic soil (Pukemutu silt loam) and pasture production were assessed on a dairy farm in Southland, New Zealand, under a number of different cattle grazing strategies: (i) normal grazing management on undrained land, (ii) normal grazing practice on drained land, (iii) restricted autumn grazing, (iv) restricted grazing when soil conditions were wet, (v) never pugged, and (vi) never grazed. a hand-pushed cone penetrometer determined treatments (iv) and (v). Soil macroporosity was significantly greater (P < 0.05) on the never grazed plot than all other treatments at post-spring sampling each year. There were no significant differences in any soil physical properties measured on cattle grazed treatments. Spring pasture yield from the never grazed treatment was greater (P < 0.05) than the drained and undrained standard practice grazing treatments for one of the three seasons. The lack of treatment differences in soil physical properties and pasture yield from grazing treatments suggests that the never pugged grazing strategy failed to prevent soil compaction by dairy cows. To some extent this is expected as soil compaction occurs at soil water contents lower than the thresholds for pugging damage. However, the large number of grazing events when soil conditions were considered safe according to the never pugged treatment protocol, but when soil water content was greater than the plastic limit, probably contributed to both soil treading damage and compaction during the traditionally wet early spring period.

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The effects of treading by dairy cows during wet soil conditions on white clover productivity, growth and morphology in a white clover–perennial ryegrass pasture

Cited by 44 publications

References 45 publications

Animal treading during wet soil conditions reduces N2 fixation in mixed clover-grass pasture

Animal treading during wet soil conditions reduces N2 fixation in mixed clover-grass pasture

Effects of tillage, simulated cattle grazing and soil moisture on N2O emissions from a winter forage crop

Grazing strategies to protect soil physical properties and maximise pasture yield on a Southland dairy farm

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