Herbs in grasslands - effect of slurry and grazing/cutting on species composition and nutritive value

Herbs are established in many organic grasslands due to their expected beneficial properties for nutritive value and biodiversity. However, knowledge about grassland herbs is limited. Three mixtures were therefore established at different grazing/cutting management and slurry applications. The competitiveness of the species varied greatly. Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and lucerne (Medicago sativa) competed best under cutting; in contrast, chicory (Cichorium intybus) competed best under grazing. Caraway (Carum carvi), burnet (Poterium sanguisorba) and lotus (Lotus corniculatus) had a relative low competitiveness. Slurry application did not affect the proportion of non-leguminous herbs. The nutritive value differed: caraway had the highest and plantain the lowest values, as judged by in-vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and content of NDF, ADF and ADL. Under cutting, the annual dry matter yields of the three mixtures were similar

The competitiveness of different herbs in grass/clover pastures.

On Danish dairy farms, herbs are often sown together with grass/clover, but the amount of herbs in the sward is often limited. The competitiveness of different herbs is therefore examined over three years (2007-2009) in grazed grass/clover pastures on five organic dairy farms and further on a research station. The seed mixture was composed of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), white clover (Trifolium repens), red clover (Trifolium pratense), chicory (Cichorium intybus), long-leaved plantain (Plantago lanceolata), caraway (Carum carvi), birds foot trefoil (Lotus coniculatus), salad burnet (Poterium sanguisorba), sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) and chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium). The botanical composition varied between the experimental sites, but in general, the proportion of the single herb decreased over time. Chicory and plantain had the highest competitiveness and therefore the highest proportion of dry matter. Caraway, lotus and burnet had a considerable lower competitiveness. Sainfoin and chervil disappeared rapidly after establishment

Species competition in multispecies grass swards

There is growing interest in establishing highly biodiverse grasslands that are also capable of maintaining high yields. In order to design successful multispecies mixtures it is necessary to know the competitiveness of individual species and how different management regimes affect this. Some species can survive in highly productive pastures, while others need nursing in special mixtures if they are to make a significant contribution to the forage. This is investigated in the ECOSERVE project and has also been studied in the earlier ORGGRASS project

Full or partial outdoor rearing of slaughter pigs – effects on performance, carcass quality and nutrient load

An experiment with slaughter pigs from weaning to slaughter including five treatments and five replicates was carried out at the Danish organic experimental station, Rugballegård. Treatments included full or partial outdoor rearing of the pigs, and the replicates covered the seasonal effects. Pigs fed ad libitum indoors had a significantly lower feed consumption (5 MJ ME /kg gain), a lower lean percentage (2.3% points), and a higher backfat depth (1.1 mm, P < 0.05) than pigs fed ad libitum outdoors. Compared with outdoor pigs fed ad libitum, restricted feeding outdoors resulted in a significantly lower daily gain (107 g), a lower feed consumption (6.3 MJ ME/kg gain), higher lean percentage (2.1% points), and a reduced backfat (1.8 mm) (P <0.001). The content of soil nitrogen was considerably higher than for the soil outside the paddocks. Despite a considerable variation within the paddocks, N was distributed throughout the paddock. The present investigation highlights the fact that outdoor rearing of organic finishers may be a competitive option even in a temperate climate and all year round

The effect of cutting strategy on production and quality of high-yielding multispecies grasslands

There is an increasing focus on biodiversity and feed resources for pollinators. However, the integration of these elements into high-yielding temporary grasslands is a challenge. With the main aim of continuous flowering we examined three strategies with four cuts per year, in which the time of the spring cut varied. In total we had 10 different harvest times during the season. This was combined with 12 different species mixtures in two categories. One was high-yielding mixtures composed of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), white clover (Trifolium repens) and red clover (Trifolium pratense), either alone or with either chicory (Cichorium intybus), ribwort plantain (Plantago planceolata) or caraway (Carum carvi). The other category was lower-yielding two-species mixtures composed of one legume (red clover, lucerne (Medicago sativa) or birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)) and one spring-flowering non-leguminous forb (salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor) or dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)). Annual dry matter yield was only slightly affected by cutting strategy. Feeding value and weekly change in feed value differed considerably between species. Weekly decrease of digestibility of organic matter ranged from 0.4% in caraway to 5.0% in birdsfoot trefoil. For the two-species mixtures, birdsfoot trefoil was the least-useful companion legume for non-leguminous forbs

Design af kløvergræsmarker med urter til kvægfoder

Urter, som etableres sammen med kløvergræs, er udsat for stærk konkurrence. Nogle kan klare sig, mens andre har brug for hjælp. Hvis græsmarkerne reelt skal være artsrige, er det derfor nødvendigt at designe græsmarkerne, så der tages hensyn til de enkelte urters konkurrenceevne

N2-fixation and residual N effect of four legume species and four companion grass species

Inclusion of forage legumes in low-input forage mixtures improves herbage production and soil fertility through addition of nitrogen (N) from N2-fixation. The impact of different grass-legume mixtures on the N contribution of the forage mixture has rarely been investigated under comparable soil and climatic conditions. We conducted a field experiment on a sandy soil at two nitrogen levels with seven two-species forage mixtures: alfalfa, bird’s-foot trefoil, red clover, or white clover in mixture with perennial ryegrass, and white clover in mixture with meadow fescue, timothy, or hybrid ryegrass. We found high N2-fixation of more than 300 kg N ha-1 from both red clover and alfalfa even when the two mixtures received 300 kg total-N ha-1 in cattle slurry. The addition of cattle slurry N fertilizer lowered N2-fixation for white clover and red clover as expected, but for bird’s-foot trefoil and alfalfa no changes in the proportion of N derived from N2-fixation was observed. We conclude that the competition for available soil N from perennial ryegrass in mixture was an important factor for the proportion of N in alfalfa, white clover, and bird’s-foot trefoil obtained from N2-fixation. White clover had a high proportion of N derived from atmosphere for all companion grasses despite significant differences in white clover proportion. Although the perennial ryegrass-alfalfa mixture in the grass phase yielded more than twice the N from N2-fixation compared to white clover in the perennial ryegrass mixture, this did not in the following year lead to higher residual N effects of alfalfa. Both in terms of N yield in the grass phase and N yield in the subsequent spring barley red clover contributed most to the improvement of soil N fertility

The Rise and Fall of the Oslo School

In 1931 Ragnar Frisch became professor at the University of Oslo. By way of his research, a new study programme and new staff he created the ”Oslo School”, characterised by mathematical modelling, econometrics, economic planning and scepticism towards the market economy. Consequently, detailed state economic planning and governance dominated Norwegian economic policy for three decades after WWII. In the 1970s the School’s dominance came to an end when the belief in competitive markets gained a foothold and the economy had poor performance. As a result a decentralized market economy was reintroduced. However, mathematical modelling and econometrics remain in the core of most economic programmes.

Græsmarkens sammensætning og mælkens smag

Enclosed files were presented at workshop april 3rd 200