Weather, herbage quality and milk production in pastoral systems. 2. Temporal patterns and intra-relationships in herbage quality and mineral concentration parameters

Roche, J.R.; Turner, L. R.; Lee, J. M.; Edmeades, D. C.; Donaghy, DJ; Macdonald, K.A.; Penno, J.W.; Berry, D.P.

doi:10.1071/ea07308

Cited by 51 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The opposite trend was observed for CP, with the maximum values in early spring and autumn, which is coincident with the annual pattern reported by Roche et al. () and Loaiza, Balocchi, and Bertrand () in their two‐leaf stage treatment. However, the tetraploid HSG differed from that general trend, containing similar WSC concentrations in August (early spring) and October (spring) and the maximum value in April (autumn).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…However, the heading date has not shown a consistent effect on WSC content of PRG cultivars (Gilliland et al., ). Crude protein and WSC contents vary markedly with season, with CP peaks during autumn and early spring (Roche et al., ), whereas WSC accumulate throughout summer and autumn, leading to the highest total accumulated during winter and minimum values during early spring (Pollock & Jones, ). These variations in nutritive components throughout the year lead to an imbalance between readily available energy, in the form of WSC, and nitrogen in the rumen.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does the “high sugar” trait of perennial ryegrass cultivars express under temperate climate conditions?

Rivero

Balocchi

Moscoso

et al. 2019

Grass and Forage Science

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The objective was to evaluate water‐soluble carbohydrate (WSC) and crude protein (CP) concentration of perennial ryegrass (PRG) cultivars with different genetic potential for producing WSC under two contrasting agronomic managements in temperate climate (southern Chile). A 4 × 2 factorial design was randomly allocated to 24 plots (31 m2 each, three blocks): four PRG cultivars (diploid standard cultivar, “2nSt”; tetraploid standard cultivar, “4nSt”; diploid high sugar cultivar developed in New Zealand, “2nHSNZ”; and tetraploid high sugar cultivar developed in Europe, “4nHSEU”) and two agronomic managements (“favourable,” defoliations at three leaves per tiller and nitrogen (N) fertilization rate of 83.3 kg N ha−1 year−1; “unfavourable,” defoliations at two leaves per tiller and N fertilization rate of 250 kg N ha−1 year−1). Herbage samples were collected in early spring, spring, summer and autumn. Concentration of WSC did not differ among cultivars in spring and summer, averaging 194 and 251 g/kg DM, respectively. The cultivar 4nHSEU had the greatest WSC concentration in early spring and autumn (187 and 266 g/kg DM, respectively) and the greatest CP concentration across samplings (average 230 g/kg DM). Favourable management improved WSC concentrations in early spring and summer and decreased CP in spring, summer and autumn. Annual DM yield did not vary with cultivar or management, averaging 8.43 t/ha. Within a 12‐month study at one site in a temperate environment in southern Chile, PRG cultivars have not shown a consistent expression of the “high sugar” trait, where a genetic × environment interaction might be operating.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the “high sugar” trait of perennial ryegrass cultivars express under temperate climate conditions?

Rivero

Balocchi

Moscoso

et al. 2019

Grass and Forage Science

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“…producing high-quality yak milk (Cincotta et al, 1991;Roche et al, 2009), but in the longer term with a lack of compensation for losses in soil available P, this will not necessarily be the case. First, the increased consumption of soil available P by plant (re)growth could potentially exhaust soil available P, in turn depressing plant growth and rangeland productivity.…”

Section: Grazing Induced Tradeoffs Between Forage Digestibility and Smentioning

confidence: 95%

Tradeoffs between forage quality and soil fertility: Lessons from Himalayan rangelands

Niu

Zhang

et al. 2016

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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A B S T R A C TPastoralists on Eurasian rangeland often believe that traditional management practices involving moderate rotational grazing ensure sustainable yield, increase plant digestibility and promote biodiversity. To assess the generality of these suppositions we compared biomass production, community leaf C, N and P stoichiometry, leaf trait diversity and carbon and nutrient pools in root and soil for moderately grazed vs. ungrazed plots in Tibetan alpine meadows. We used five leaf traits (leaf C, leaf N and leaf P concentrations; SLA: specific leaf area, and LDMC: leaf dry matter content) as indicators of plant digestibility and rangeland quality. We measured these foliar traits and the ramet numbers for component species in moderately grazed plots as well as in exclosures (3-11 years) at five sites across the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Community weighted mean (CWM) trait values and functional dispersion (FDis) were used to quantify the mean and the variance in the distribution of trait values, respectively. Both the leaf P CWM and leaf P FDis generally increased under grazing and the LDMC CWM decreased, leading to improved plant digestibility and rangeland quality (e.g. high, community-wide leaf nutrients). The leaf C CWM , leaf N CWM and SLA CWM increased under grazing but the FDis of these traits tended to decrease. Grazing generally increased species diversity but decreased aboveground biomass, organic carbon, and nutrient concentrations in soil and root, especially decreasing root nitrogen and soil available phosphorus. Both root biomass and the leaf C:N CWM decreased in grazed plots at wet sites, but increased at dry sites. The community-wide increase and greater interspecific diversity in leaf nutrient concentrations coupled with decreasing LDMC CWM show that grazing induced an increase in plant digestibility, nutrient concentrations, and nutrient diversity in these alpine meadows. However, this increase in forage quality comes at the cost of losses in both carbon stock and nutrient availability that depress biomass production. Our findings and a review of related literature suggest that traditional grazing practices involve a trade-off between short-term yield and sustainability, a management challenge that must be addressed on rangelands with low soil fertility.

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“…Mechanical harvesting of silage is practiced when pasture growth exceeds herd demand, and cows are supplemented with concentrate feeds and conserved forages when pasture growth is less than cow requirements. In the Irish dairy system, average pasture consumed/hectare is estimated to be 7.3 t of DM/ha annually, with cows also receiving 875 kg of concentrates/ cow (Teagasc, 2012) In temperate pasture systems, minimal pasture growth occurs during winter and early spring, and the peak of pasture growth occurs in mid-spring (Roche et al, 2009). As a result, cows are managed to minimize the requirements for fresh pasture during winter, through the provision of conserved forages, with or without housing, during the winter months, or are moved to an alternative property for feeding before calving, before being "turned out" to graze fresh pasture between early spring and early winter.…”

Section: The Seasonal-calving Grazing Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with the financial performance of spring-calving, pasture-based dairy farms

Ramsbottom

Horan

Berry

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

109

110

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As land becomes a limiting resource for pasture-based dairy farming, the inclusion of purchased supplementary feeds to increase milk production per cow (through greater dry matter intake) and per hectare (through increased stocking rate) is often proposed as a strategy to increase profitability. Although a plausible proposition, virtually no analysis has been done on the effect of such intensification on the profitability of commercial pasture-based dairy farm businesses. The objective of this study was to characterize the average physical and financial performance of dairy systems differing in the proportion of the cow's diet coming from grazed pasture versus purchased supplementary feeds over 4 yr, while accounting for any interaction with geographic region. Physical, genetic, and financial performance data from 1,561 seasonal-calving, pasture-based dairy farms in Ireland were available between the years 2008 and 2011; data from some herds were available for more than 1 yr of the 4-yr study period, providing data from 2,759 dairy farm-years. The data set was divided into geographic regions, based on latitude, rainfall, and soil characteristics that relate to drainage; these factors influence the length of the pasture growth season and the timing of turnout to pasture in spring and rehousing in autumn. Farms were also categorized by the quantity of feed purchased; farms in which cows received <10, 11-20, 21-30, or >30% of their annual feed requirements from purchased feed were considered to be categories representative of increasing levels of system intensification. Geographic region was associated with differences in grazing days, pasture harvested per hectare, milk production per cow and per hectare, and farm profitability. Farms in regions with longer grazing seasons harvested a greater amount of pasture [an additional 19kg of dry matter (DM)/ha per grazing day per hectare], and greater pasture harvested was associated with increased milk component yield per hectare (58.4kg of fat and 51.4kg of protein more per tonne of DM pasture harvested/ha) and net profit per hectare (€268/ha more per tonne of DM harvested). Milk yield and yield of milk components per cow and per hectare increased linearly with increased use of purchased feed (additional 30.6kg of milk fat and 26.7kg of milk protein per tonne of DM purchased feed per hectare), but, on average, pasture harvested/hectare and net profit/hectare declined (-0.60 t of DM/ha and -€78.2/ha, respectively) with every tonne of DM supplementary feed purchased per hectare. The results indicate an effect of purchased feeds not usually accounted for in marginal economic analyses (e.g., milk to feed price ratio): the decline in pasture harvested/hectare, with the costs of producing the unutilized pasture in addition to the cost of feed resulting in a lower profit. In conclusion, greater milk component yields per cow were associated with increased profit per hectare, and a greater use of purchased feeds was associated with an increase in the yield of milk components. Howe...

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Weather, herbage quality and milk production in pastoral systems. 2. Temporal patterns and intra-relationships in herbage quality and mineral concentration parameters

Cited by 51 publications

References 44 publications

Does the “high sugar” trait of perennial ryegrass cultivars express under temperate climate conditions?

Does the “high sugar” trait of perennial ryegrass cultivars express under temperate climate conditions?

Tradeoffs between forage quality and soil fertility: Lessons from Himalayan rangelands

Factors associated with the financial performance of spring-calving, pasture-based dairy farms

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