Forage yield and nutritive value of Elephant grass, Italian ryegrass and spontaneous growing species mixed with forage peanut or red clover

The objective of this research was to evaluate of three grazing systems (GS) with elephant grass (EG), Italian ryegrass (IR) + spontaneous growing species (SGS); EG + IR + SGS + forage peanut (FP); and EG + IR + SGS + red clover (RC), during the winter and summer periods in rotational grazing with d...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Michelle Schalemberg Diehl, Clair Jorge Olivo, Carlos Alberto Agnolin, Ricardo Lima de Azevedo Junior, Vinícius Felipe Bratz, Juliano Costa dos Santos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria 2014-10-01
Series:Ciência Rural
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-84782014001001845&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:The objective of this research was to evaluate of three grazing systems (GS) with elephant grass (EG), Italian ryegrass (IR) + spontaneous growing species (SGS); EG + IR + SGS + forage peanut (FP); and EG + IR + SGS + red clover (RC), during the winter and summer periods in rotational grazing with dairy cattle. Experimental design was completely randomized with three treatments, two replicates with repeated measures. Lactating Holstein cows receiving 1% BW-daily feed supplement with concentrate were used in the evaluation. Eight grazing cycles were performed during the experimental period. The values of pre forage mass and stocking rate were 2.52, 2.60 and 2.99 t ha-1 and 2.64, 2.77 and 3.14 animal unit ha-1, respectively for GS. Samples of forage were collected by hand-plucking technique to analyze the crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), in situ dry matter digestibility (ISDMD), in situ organic matter digestibility (ISOMD) of forage present between rows of elephant grass, in the rows of elephant grass and the legumes. Higher value of CP, ISOMD and lower of NDF were observed for the grazing systems mixed with legumes forage.
ISSN:1678-4596