The growth of barley grass (Hordeum leporinum) in annual pasture. 1. Germination and establishment in comparison with other annual pasture species

1968 ◽  
Vol 8 (33) ◽  
pp. 478 ◽  
Author(s):  
DF Smith

Several experiments were carried out to examine aspects of the germination and establishment of seeds of barley grass (Hordeum leprinum), and several of its companions in annual pastures. These indicated that freshly-matured seed of barley grass had considerable dormancy the first summer. While day temperatures remained high it did not germinate readily, but had no marked advantage over its companions. Compared with Wimmera ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), the seeds and seedlings were much larger and it geminated and established mere successfully cr. compact surfaces. Plants arising from surface-sown seeds were compared with those from buried seeds : with barley grass they were much larger, but with Wimmera ryegrass they were not.

1968 ◽  
Vol 8 (35) ◽  
pp. 706 ◽  
Author(s):  
DF Smith

The effects of three grazing treatments and three mowing treatments on the dominance of barley grass (Hordeum leporinum) in an annual pasture were examined. Different spring grazing patterns did not markedly alter the amount of seed. Mowing favoured the legume component; topping less so than cutting lower as for hay or silage. However, none of these practices totally prevented barley grass from setting seed, and their effects were partly offset by late irrigation. Oversowing with subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) did reduce barley grass seed setting but alone u-as not effective in changing botanical composition. Compared with Wimmera ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), barley grass showed greater persistence.


1968 ◽  
Vol 8 (33) ◽  
pp. 484 ◽  
Author(s):  
DF Smith

Experiments to compare the growth of barley grass (Hordeum leporinum) and Wimmera ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) were carried out in small plots and boxes at Dookie College in northern Victoria, and near Melbourne. These covered a range of density, defoliation, and temperature and soil fertility conditions. At equal densities barley grass generally out-yielded rye grass over the first 50 days of growth. Frost was the only factor reducing this superiority, but high levels of nitrogen in the foliage greatly reduced frost damage. Barley grass also recovered more rapidly from defoliation. The results suggest that in frosty areas soil nitrogen levels will greatly influence the herbage production and dominance of barley grass ; in areas with milder winters, growth will be more consistent and the grass will be a more reliable forage plant.


1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (42) ◽  
pp. 76 ◽  
Author(s):  
RT Parrott ◽  
CM Donald

A study was conducted at Adelaide of the ignitability of monospecific swards of four Mediterranean annual pasture plants under windless conditions throughout the normal field desiccation of the swards in the spring. For any individual species the ignitability depended almost wholly on the percentage of water or the very closely correlated percentage of dead herbage. Atmospheric conditions had no measurable influence on ignitability during desiccation. Trifolium subterraneum was much less ignitable at any particular level of moisture content than were the grasses. Lolium rigidum was more inflammable early in the desiccation process than was Hordeum leporinum of equal water content, presumably due to the greater continuity of dry leaf; but H. leporinum was ignitable much earlier in the spring because it matured and dried sooner than did L. rigidum. In the case of the grasses, only those firebrands that fell to or near the soil surface started a fire, whereas the more compact sward of T. subterraneum, when sufficiently dry, lit readily at the upper surface.


1964 ◽  
Vol 4 (15) ◽  
pp. 352 ◽  
Author(s):  
JH Silsbury

The responses of annual and perennial ryegrass to 0, 6, and 12 weeks artificial seed vernalization were determined by recording the percentages of plants heading and the leaf numbers at heading for populations of 40 plants grown in a glasshouse under continuous light. All plants of the annual L. rigidum headed without vernalization but the vernalized plants headed at a much lower leaf number than did the unvernalized controls. At least six weeks of cold treatment were needed for complete induction of the five cultivars of L. perenne examined. The vernalization responses of cultivars of Mediterranean origin were similar to those of the Australian Colac. It was shown that late heading in L. perenne is not always associated with a large cold requirement and it is suggested that photoperiod may be an important factor controlling heading of ryegrass in southern Australia.


2012 ◽  
Vol 109 (10) ◽  
pp. 1765-1778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelhafid Keli ◽  
Genaro Olmos ◽  
Antonio de Vega ◽  
José A. Guada

An experiment was carried out to examine the effect of increasing the proportion of Wimmera ryegrass hay in a lucerne hay-based diet on net transfer of nutrients to the intestine, and on the disappearance ofn-alkanes in the reticulo-rumen and the hindgut of sheep. Following a latin square design, four adult ewes were fed 1:0, 0·33:0·67, 0·67:0·33 and 0:1 proportions of legume and grass. Increasing the proportion of ryegrass in the diet linearly decreased the intake of DM (P= 0·017), organic matter (P= 0·021) and N (P= 0·001). However, neutral-detergent fibre intake was not affected (P= 0·148), nor was its digestibility coefficient (P>0·10). Diet had no effect on duodenal flows of nutrients (P>0·10), although the proportion of N intake (NI) recovered at the duodenum as non-NH3N (NAN) increased linearly withLolium rigidumin the diet (P= 0·002). Full recovery of NI as NAN was achieved at NH3concentrations in the rumen below 110 g/l. Microbial N contribution to NAN varied in a quadratic manner (P< 0·05) with the proportion of grass in the diet, although efficiency of microbial synthesis was not affected (P>0·10). Duodenal recovery of consumedn-alkanes was not affected by diet and was complete for those present in higher concentrations in the forages. Isolated rumen bacteria contained significant amounts ofn-alkanes, contributing to the duodenal flow of these hydrocarbons in variable proportions depending on the diet consumed.


1983 ◽  
Vol 23 (121) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
CR Stockdale

The seasonal distribution and variability of growth of three types of irrigated pastures were measured at Kyabram over a period of up to seven years. The pasture types studied were (1) paspalum (Paspalum dilatatum)-dominant perennial pasture, (2) ryegrass (Lolium perenne)/clover (Trifolium repens) perennial pasture, and (3) annual pasture based on subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) and Wimmera ryegrass (Lolium rigidum). The influence of environmental factors on the year-to-year variability in monthly growth rates was also examined. Annual growth curves were constructed for each pasture type, and examination of the variability about each monthly mean indicated that the spring months, and October in particular, were the most variable months for pasture growth. Environmental factors were found to account for part of the year-to-year variation in pasture growth of paspalum pastures in August, September, October, November and April. Higher mean maximum temperatures significantly increased growth in September, October and April, with the greatest response occurring in October; hours of sunshine was the significant factor influencing growth in August and November. Annual pasture growth also responded to changes in mean maximum temperature or hours of sunshine in September and October. The comparative mean annual production of paspalum pasture, ryegrass/clover pasture and annual pasture was 18.3, 18.3 and 11.0 t DM/ha, respectively. These levels of production represented 1.1, 1.2 and 1.6% conversion of photosynthetically active radiation during the growing period of the three pasture types, respectively. These levels of productivity and the animal production that should result, suggest that the pasture productivity on many irrigated dairy farms is either very low or the pasture that is grown is inefficiently utilized. Because animal productivity depends on pasture productivity more than any other single factor, farmers should make improvement of pasture growth their major aim while having regard for the variability in growth that can result from variations in environmental factors.


1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (64) ◽  
pp. 549 ◽  
Author(s):  
RCG Smith ◽  
EF Biddiscombe ◽  
WR Stern

Newly sown pure swards of Wimmera ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) and subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) were either grazed or spelled (deferred) for five weeks after emergence in autumn and then evaluated with young Merino wethers stocked at 10 sheep ha-1. Sheep on deferred pastures had higher intakes and liveweight than on plots continuously grazed. Spelling increased the availability of pasture for prehension due to a greater weight of herbage being offered and the more erect growth form. Under continuous grazing the animal productivity on clover was much lower than on ryegrass but following deferment, both species had similar productivity. The beneficial effects of spelling after emergence were manifest over the ensuing ten months by liveweight, fleeceweight and number of days of grazing. Spelling also increased seed reserves at the end of summer and the number of plants re-establishing at the beginning of the next growing season.


1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (67) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
PS Cocks

The responses of three annual grasses (Lolium rigidum, Vulpia myuros, and Hordeum leporinum) to nitrogen fertilizer were studied at three densities. Total herbage and nitrogen uptake were measured at four harvest dates. The response of the three grasses to nitrogen depended on their density. At low density both Lolium and Hordeum had greater dry weight increase than Vulpia, but at high density Vulpia responded as well as Lolium and better than Hordeum. By comparing the nitrogen responses at similar amounts of available herbage it was seen that, over a wide range of availability, both Lolium and Vulpia had greater absolute response than Hordeum. It was concluded that nitrogen response would probably be greatest on swards of Lolium or Vulpia that have a particular amount of available herbage.


1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (89) ◽  
pp. 915 ◽  
Author(s):  
GW Arnold ◽  
SR Wallace ◽  
ESde Boer

Merino ewes lambing in March on dry subterranean-clover-Wimmera ryegrass (Trifolium subterraneum-Lolium rigidum) pastures were fed a lupin grain supplement at different rates for 10 weeks, beginning four weeks before lambing, In two experiments, birth weights of lambs were unaffected by the supplements but both milk production of the ewes and the growth rate and weaning weight of lambs increased linearly with increasing level of supplementation. At the highest rate of supplement (600 g day-1), the ewes produced 46 per cent more milk in a four hour period in the first four weeks of lactation than ewes that were not fed and their lambs were 3 kg heavier at weaning. In a third experiment in which ewes were fed in yards, increasing the protein level in the ration from 8 per cent to 14 per cent using lupin grain gave a 15 per cent increase in milk production and a significantly higher lamb growth rate at the same level of energy intake. At ad libitum levels of intake the high protein ration gave a 33 per cent higher rate of milk secretion over ten weeks and a 40 per cent higher growth rate of lambs than the low protein ration


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