Botha, Philip R.

Gerber, H. S.

Meeske, Robin

Swanepoel, A.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress The Production and Nutritional Composition of Annual Winter Growing Grass and Legume Species as Winter Pasture Philip R. Botha Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa H. S. Gerber Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa Robin Meeske Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa A. Swanepoel Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/15-1/21 The XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. 瞯 668　 瞯 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems ——— Forage Quality ,Conservation and UtilizationThe production and nutritional composition of annual winter growing grass and legume species aswinter pastureP .R . Botha , H .S . Gerber , R . Meeske 倡 and A . SwanepoelDepartment o f Agriculture Western Cape , Institute f or Plant Production ,倡 Institute f or Animal Production , Outeniqua Research Farm . PO Box 249 , George , 6530 .E‐mail : phili pb ＠ elsenburg .comKey words :annual ryegrass ,oats ,triticale ,serradella ,vetch ,production and qualityIntroduction Perennial ryegrass , kikuyu and lucerne are the pasture base for milk production in the Southern Cape of SouthAfrica . The dry matter production rate of these pastures differs during spring , summer and autumn but reach a mutual lowduring winter resulting in feed shortage during winter . The aim of this study was to plant different annual winter growing grassand legume species in pure stands and mixtures at different planting dates in an attempt to increase the dry matter productionand quality of fodder produced during winter .Materials and methods The trial was carried out during the winters of ２００５ and ２００６ under irrigation on an Estcourt soil type .Fertilizer was applied to raise the phosphorus level to ３５ mg kg‐１ , potash level to ８０ mg kg‐１ and pH ( KCL) to ５ .５ . Nitrogenwas applied at ５５ kg N ha‐１ month‐１ . The following winter crops and cultivars were evaluated : annual ryegrass ( L .multi f lorum cv . Energa) , oats ( A . sativa cv . SSH４２１ ) , triticale ( Triticosecale cv . Bacchus ) , serradella ( O . Sativus cv .Emena) and vetch ( V . dasycar pa cv . Max ) . The planting dates were February , March , April and May . No seedbed wasprepared . Eragrostis teff was planted during November of the previous year and throughout the summer grazed with Jerseycows . Four weeks before the planting of the winter crops , the teff was grazed down to ３０ mm and sprayed with an herbicide( glufosate) at ３ liter ha‐１ . The different crops were then planted , without the prior working of the soil , direct into the deadplant material with an Aitchison planter . The crops were grazed every ３０ days to a height of ５０ mm with Jersey cows . Drymatter ( DM) production , crude protein ( CP ) content ( ％ ) , metabolisable energy ME ( MJ/ kg DM ) and ME ( MJ ME ha‐１ )were determined .Results The earliest first grazing was on the ３１st of March obtained with the February planting date . The crops with the highestDM production rate ( kg DM ha‐１ day‐１ ) during March were oats (５７ .７ kg DMha‐１ day‐１ ) , triticale (４０ .３ kg DMha‐１ day‐１ ) ,oats‐triticale (５７ .８ kg DMa‐１ day‐１ ) , oats‐serradella ( ５０ .７ kg DMa‐１ day‐１ ) and oats‐vetch ( ４４ .１ kg DMh a‐１ day‐１ ) plantedduring February . Oats was the superior crop in the mixtures . The highest DM production rates during the winter ( June/ July /August ) were obtained with the February planting date from ryegrass and ryegrass based pastures ( ryegrass : ４５ , ５６ and ７３ kgDM ha‐１ day‐１ for June , July and August respectively ) , ryegrass‐oats : ４９ , ５１ and ７１ kg DM ha‐１ day‐１ for June , July andAugust respectively ) and ryegrass‐triticale (３８ , ５２ and ７４ kg DM ha‐１ day‐１ for June , July and August respectively ) . TheMarch planting date resulted in a lower May DM production rate of ryegrass (１５ .６ kg DM ha‐１ day‐１ ) in comparison to oats(４９ .１ kg DM ha‐１ day‐１ ) and triticale (４６ .３ kg DM ha‐１ day‐１ ) or oats‐triticale (５２ .３ kg DM ha‐１ day‐１ ) . The mean CP content( ％ ) of the different crops was high ( ＞ ２３ ％ ) . The mean IVOMD of the different crops was high ( ＞ ７５ ％ ) . The IVOMDdecreased ( ＜ ７５ ％ ) at the end of the season ( October November ) . Planting date influenced the winter DM production of thedifferent crops . February and March are the best planting dates to plant annual crops for production during June , July andAugust .

The Production and Nutritional Composition of Annual Winter Growing Grass and Legume Species as Winter Pasture

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The Production and Nutritional Composition of Annual Winter Growing Grass and Legume Species as Winter Pasture

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