The effect of plant structure on the intake of tropical pasture. III.* Influence of fertilizer nitrogen on the size of bite harvested by Jersey cows grazing Setaria anceps cv. Kazungula swards

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 997 ◽  
Author(s):  
TH Stobbs

The effect of fertilizing Setaria anceps cv. Kazungula swards with nitrogen on the size of bite harvested by cattle was determined and the influence of sward canopy structure upon bite size was investigated in two experiments. The first experiment measured the effect of nitrogen at 0, 40, 60 and 100 kg/ha on 6-week regrowth, and the second measured the effect at 50 and 100 kg/ha on 4- and 6-week regrowths of both unfertilized swards and others which had received 350 kg nitrogen per hectare in each of the previous three years. The mean bite size of cows grazing immature (4-week) regrowths increased linearly with increasing applications of nitrogen, averaging 0.29, 0.33 and 0.37 g organic matter (OM) per bite on the 0, 50 and 100 kg/ha treatments respectively. Swards which allowed the largest bites to be prehended had the highest leaf yields and the highest leaf bulk densities. The mean bite size on 6-week regrowths was lower (0.28 g OM/bite) than on 4-week regrowths (0.33 g OM/bite). Cows selected leaf from the upper layers of the swards, and inaccessibility of leaf resulting from a high stem and inflorescence content prevented animals from taking larger bites. In both experiments high levels of nitrogen fertilizer advanced the maturity of 6-week regrowths, and the bite size of cows grazing these pastures did not increase beyond the level recorded at intermediate nitrogen levels. It was concluded that fertilizer nitrogen increases dry matter and leaf yields, particularly in the uppermost layers of the sward, allowing cows to harvest large bites of immature herbage. A higher stem and inflorescence content in heavily fertilized swards can result in inaccessibility of leaf when mature herbage is grazed. ________________ *Part II, Aust. J. Agric. Res., 24: 821 (1973).

1967 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 587-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Minson

1. Experiments were conducted with wether sheep in 1964 and 1965 fed pelleted or chopped mature Digitaria decubemes Stent (pangola grass) bay containing different crude protein contents. The voluntary intake of food, digestibility of dry matter and nitrogen, nitrogen retention and apparent time of retention of feed organic matter in the reticulo-rumen were measured. The different crude protein contents of the grass were obtained by applications of urea to the sward 14 and 28 days before cutting for hay in 1964 and 1965 respectively. This treatment increased the crude protein content of the dry matter from 4.9% to 8.7% in 1964 and from 3.7% to 7.2% in 1965. The size of the particles of the ground hay before pelleting is given.2. The mean voluntary intake of chopped fertilized grass was 10% and 54% greater than that of the unfertilized; the voluntary intake of pellets made from fertilized grass was 35% and 75% greater than of those made from the unfertilized grass in 1964 and 1965 respectively.3. The voluntary intake of pellets of unfertilized grass was 7% and 14% greater than that 30% greater than that of chopped fertilized grass in 1964 and 1965 respectively.4. The digestibility of the pellets was less than that of the chopped grass.5. The apparent digestibility of the feed nitrogen was increased by the fertilizer nitrogen, but grinding and pelleting had no consistent effect. Sheep eating chopped or pelleted fertilized hay were in positive nitrogen balance.6. The apparent retention time of organic matter in the reticulo-rumen was longer when the sheep were eating chopped hay than when they were eating pellets. In 1964 the apparent retention time of organic matter in the reticulo-rumen was shorter for chopped and pelleted unfertilized grass than for chopped and pelleted fertilized grass, but in 1965 the order was reversed.7. The relationship between voluntary intake, apparent retention time of organic matter in the rumen and the protein content of the food is discussed.


1984 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 116-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. ROHR ◽  
M. BRANDT ◽  
P. LEBZIEN ◽  
H. SCHAFFT

Duodenal flow as derived from total collection and spot sampling was compared in three Friesian cows, using a re-entrant cannula without transecting the intestine. Cr2O3 was used as a single marker. Small differences in flow of dry matter, organic matter and nitrogen indicate that the spot sampling procedure may render valid results. The mean recovery of Cr2O3 was 96.7%. Key words: Cattle, duodenal flow, sampling technique, marker


1968 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Cowling ◽  
D. R. Lockyer

SummaryThe production of herbage dry matter harvested from a mixture of S. 24 perennial ryegrass, S. 37 cocksfoot and S. 48 timothy is compared with the yields of the same species sown alone. Various levels of fertilizer nitrogen were applied to the grasses which were harvested by cutting fourteen times over a 3-year period.The possibility that the mixture produced a greater yield than swards of pure species (after taking into account that the three species are not present in equal proportions in herbage harvested from the mixture) was examined using the concept of ‘the sum of the relative yields’. There was no evidence of a beneficial or antagonistic effect of one species on another; rather, the species seemed to be ‘mutually exclusive’ (de Wit & van den Bergh, 1965).The botanical composition of the mixture changed through the course of the experiment, e.g. cocksfoot became increasingly dominant, particularly at the highest level of nitrogen. Changes in composition accounted for any tendency for the yield of the mixture to deviate from the mean of the pure-sown swards.Some of the advantages and disadvantages of using mixtures are discussed and it is concluded that a rational approach to grassland husbandry should be based on swards sown to a single grass variety.


1970 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. H. Rogers ◽  
A. J. Thomson

SUMMARYSelfed and diallel progenies of selected clones of Lolium perenne were subjected to four nitrogen rates—0, 225, 450 and 675 kg/ha of N per annum. The herbage was analysed for total nitrogen (N), digestible dry matter (DMD), digestible organic matter (D) and acid-pepsin solubility was determined on total (PS) and organic matter (POMS) in 1967 and 1968.Data for the percentage composition and the yield of quality components are presented with the variances of general (g.c.a.) and specific (s.c.a.) combining abilities for these characters. The g.c.a. and s.c.a. interaction with nitrogen is partitioned.For percentage quality components and yields there were significant effects of years, nitrogen rates, progenies and their interactions. The variance for g.c.a. for all percentage quality components was not significant in 1968 but in 1967 all were significant except for total N. For yields, only the g.c.a.'s for PS and POMS were significant in 1967: no g.c.a.'s were significant in 1968.There were considerable differences between years for heritability values. For digestibility the predicted performance of a theoretical F2 synthetic was little better than the mean of the population from which it was derived.The implication of these studies in the formulation of a grass breeding programme is outlined.


1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (54) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Minson

The digestibility and voluntary intake of Chloris gayana, Digitaria decumbens, Panicimum maximum var tricboglume, Paspalm dilatatum, Pennisetm Clanhtinum, and Setaria splendih were measured with sheep in metabolism pens. All grasses were grown under the same conditions and cut at the same time. Each grass was cut after growing for 28, 70, and 98 days in the summer and then again (except for P. dilatatum) after 42, 70, and 105 days in the following autumn. Four successive 28-day regrowths of each grass (two cuts only for P. dilatatum) were also harvested during the summer. All 55 cuts were artificially dried and fed at the same time, each cut being fed to eight sheep. Differences in dry matter and organic matter digestibility between grass species were relatively small with a maximum mean difference of six digestibility units between S. splendida and P. clandestinzrm. For the 28-day regrowths S. splendida was 5.1 digestibility units higher but with the more mature regrowths the difference was 6.8 digestibility units. The mean voluntary intake of dry matter of S. splendida and P. clandestinum was 9 and 11 per cent lower than that of D. decmbens (P<0.01) with the largest differences in voluntary intake between grasses occurring at the mature stages of growth. Large differences were found between grass species in both the slope and intercept of regressions relating voluntary intake to dry matter digestibility.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1044-1050
Author(s):  
M.U. Kulsum ◽  
M.A. Baque ◽  
Anowara Akter ◽  
M.H. Kabir Shiragi ◽  
M.A. Karim

1937 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Woodman ◽  
R. E. Evans ◽  
A. Eden

A technique for measuring the appetites of sheep on pasture is described.Results are given to show that sheep consume a bigger ration, in terms of lb. dry matter, when on pasture than when subsisting out-of-doors on the winter type of diet composed of hay, swedes (or kale) and concentrates. This difference was noted even on grass that had deteriorated in quality, in one case as a result of hot, dry weather in early summer, and in a second case as a consequence of cold, dry weather in spring. With young, leafy pasturage at its best, however, the distinction is most marked.In the March of 1934, to quote but one example, four pure-bred Suffolk wethers, of live-weight varying from 120 to 181 lb., were shown to consume, on a diet of concentrates (350 g. daily), swedes (ad lib.) and chaffed hay (ad lib.), only 80–88 per cent of the amounts of dry matter predicted on the basis of Wood's feeding standards. During the following May, when grazing leafy pasturage of very good quality (digestion coefficient of organic matter = 81·l per cent), the appetites of the same sheep (range of live-weight now from 137 to 201 lb.) were found to have undergone a striking stimulation, the mean daily consumption of dry matter now being from 104 to 117 per cent of the amounts predicted from the standards. This implied that the sheep were consuming 1·13, 1·37, 1·13 and T53 lb. respectively more dry matter per day than they would have eaten had the diet consisted of hay, concentrates and swedes. The increased appetite is to be attributed to the superior palatability of the young grass.


1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Castle ◽  
W. C. Retter ◽  
J. D. Metcalfe

SUMMARYGrass silage with a dry-matter content of 20·7%, and containing 18·9% crude protein and 67·0% digestible organic matter in the dry matter was self-fed to 20 lactating dairy cows for 18 weeks. In addition, 9 kg of brewers' grains with a dry-matter content of 28·8% was offered to each cow daily. The two supplement treatments were a barley mix and a groundnut cube containing 11·9 and 33·5% crude protein in the dry matter respectively. The barley was given at the rate of 4 kg/10 kg milk, and the groundnut at 1·5 kg/10 kg milk. The mean daily yields of milk were 18·9 and 19·4 kg/cow on the barley and groundnut treatments respectively and did not differ significantly.


1991 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Katoh ◽  
Y. Kajita ◽  
M. Odashima ◽  
M. Ohta ◽  
Y. Sasaki

The mean retention time (MRT) of stained hay through the whole digestive tract and its digestibility were measured in Japanese sika deer (Cervus nippon) and were compared with those in sheep when lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay was fed at 10, 20 and 30 g/kg body-weight. The recoveries in faeces of plastic particles with five specific gravities were also measured in deer. MRT for deer was significantly shorter than that for sheep at 10 and 20 g/kg feeding levels. The digestibilities of dry matter, organic matter, and neutral-detergent fibre were significantly lower for deer than for sheep at 30, 30 and 10 g/kg feeding levels respectively. The recovery rates of plastic particles were increased, but the ruminated rates were decreased, with increasing specific gravity in deer. These results suggest that the lower digestibility of lucerne hay in Japanese deer may be due to a shorter MRT compared with sheep.


1968 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Castle ◽  
D. Reid

SUMMARYIn a 2-year experiment conducted on a pure S. 24 perennial ryegrass sward, fertilizer nitrogen in the form of ‘Nitram’ (34·5%) N was applied at rates of 100, 200 and 300 lb/ acre either as single dressings in the spring or as two, three, four or five split dressings at successively later dates in the growing season. Total yields of herbage dry matter and of crude protein, and their distribution over the season, were determined by cutting the herbage five times at intervals of approximately 5 weeks. Yields of herbage dry matter were increased by increasing the nitrogen application rate and by splitting the total amount of fertilizer nitrogen into either three or four equal dressings. The mean crudeprotein content of the herbage dry matter was increased by increasing the nitrogen application rate, but it was reduced by splitting the total amount of fertilizer into several dressings. The nitrate content of the herbage was higher after a single heavy dressing of fertilizer nitrogen than after several split dressings. It is concluded that the optimum application programme for a total rate of 100 lb nitrogen/acre was three split dressings each of 33J lb/acre, and for the 200 and 300 lb nitrogen/acre rate, four split dressings of 50 and 75 lb/acre respectively.


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