engleski

Herbage productivity and quality of mountain grassland under different forage management systems

Our objective was to evaluate the effects of 4 defoliation practices on productivity and quality of grassland. Treatments were cattle grazing followed by sheep grazing (CS) ; cattle grazing (2 rotations) followed by one hay cut, and then cattle grazing for the rest of season (CHC) ; two hay cuts (spring and autumn) and cattle rotational grazing between hay cuts (HCH) ; one hay cut (spring) followed by cattle rotational grazing at the rest of growing season (HC). Available herbage mass was similar between the treatments (mean 9.75 t ha-1, P>0.05). The greatest rejected herbage mass was under CHC (2.37 t ha-1), and the lowest under HCH (0.71 t ha-1). The highest crude protein content (CP) was under CHC and CS (mean 202 g kg-1), and the lowest under HCH (165 g kg-1). A significant treatment × year interaction for CP was found (P<0.01). Only HC had the similar CP in all investigated years (mean 184 g kg-1, P>0.05). Acid detergent fibre content was similar at all treatments and years (mean 312 g kg-1). There were no significant differences between treatments in neutral detergent fibre content (NDF) (mean 488 g kg-1), but there were differences between years (P<0.01).

grassland; cutting; grazing; productivity; quality

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