Small-scale patches (locations of 50 cm × 50 cm at a feeding station level) in a bahia grass ( Paspalum notatum ) pasture under cattle grazing were investigated in terms of herbage mass, quality and utilisation during a grazing season (May–November), to characterise the quantityquality relationship of patches and relate this to spatially heterogeneous grazing by animals. Nitrogen concentration ...

Grazing management is a key element determining herbage production and grazing efficiency. This study measured herbage accumulation and grazing efficiency in Mombaça grass pastures (Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça) subjected to intermittent defoliation managements. Treatments were combinations of 2 rest periods (grazing at either 95 or 100% canopy light interception — LI) and 2 grazing intensities ...

Timely and accurate detection of above-ground herbage mass and the nutritive value of pastures can help the more efficient adjustment of stocking rate and determine the timing of protein supplements to be fed to livestock grazing these pastures. The objectives of this study were to determine seasonal variation in herbage mass, neutral-detergent fibre (NDF), aciddetergent fibre (ADF) and crude p...

Stockpiling herbage can redistribute nutrient availability and supplement quantity for livestock, depending on production objectives. Brassicas (Brassica spp.) and improved prairiegrass (Bromus catharticus Vahl.) cultivars are adapted to growing conditions occurring in the Appalachian region and provide nutritionally valuable herbage in autumn; however, highly digestible brassica herbage may re...

The present work aimed to differentiate between proteolytic activities of plants and micro-organisms during the incubation of grass in cattle rumens. Freshly cut ryegrass was placed in bags of varying permeability and incubated for 16 h in the rumens of dairy cows that had previously grazed a ryegrass sward, supplemented with 4 kg dairy concentrate daily. Woven polyester bags (50 microm pore si...

The main objective of this study was to determine to what extent grazing pressure and timing modulate the seasonal progression of herbage quality in hilly Mediterranean grassland systems. The study was conducted during six consecutive years between 2003 and 2008 at the Karei Deshe experimental farm, in eastern Galilee, Israel, dominated by rich hemicryptophytic grassland. Treatments included tw...

Preweaning growth data were obtained during 4 yr on 349 Braford-sired calves from Brahman-Hereford F1 first-calf females. These females were allotted to either semiarid rangeland (Uvalde) or humid improved pasture (Overton) as weanlings and to one of four herbage allowance levels at each location as yearlings. Females were wintered on systems in local industry practice and maintained on various...

The North American tortoise Xerobates agassizii (synonym: Gopherus agassizii) consumes herbage and grasses produced from low and variable desert rains. Utilization of Sphaeralcea ambigua foliage and the grass Schismus barbatus were studied in 8 adult tortoises (2.3 kg body mass). The herbage contained more N but less fiber than the grass. Tortoises ingested and digested more dry matter and ener...

To maximize herbage DMI, pregrazing sward surface height (SSH) and level of herbage depletion (HD) must be such that variables determining short-term herbage intake such as bite mass (BM) and bite rate (BR) are optimized. The objective of this study was to determine a SSH target and the level of HD as a proportion of the SSH that optimizes BM and BR of beef heifers grazing Sorghum bicolor sward...

est in morning (Holt and Hilst, 1969; Orr et al., 1997; Barrett et al., 2001). Herbage SC and digestibility conHerbage soluble carbohydrate (SC) levels vary diurnally and livecentrations also vary seasonally, with generally higher stock intake can be higher for herbage harvested or allocated to animals in the evening than in the morning. Few assessments of SC SC levels in spring and lower level...