The sugar, starch, and fructan content (collectively referred to as nonstructural carbohydrates [NSC]) of pasture plants is dependent on the environmental conditions under which they have grown. Pasture that is stressed by cold, drought, or lack of nutrients can be 2 to 3 times higher in NSC than pasture that grows quickly in warm weather and is adequately watered and fertilized. Horses at risk...

Tropical beef cattle production involving animals grazing in a shaded and biologically diverse environment, surrounded by high-quality edible biomass, is achievable through silvopastoral systems (SPSs). However, it necessary to assess the effects of presence trees on forage animal performance over time. In Brazilian Cerrado, we evaluated 2 densities eucalyptus SPSs (8 years age - SPS22: 227 tre...

Concentrations of selected trace minerals (Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Co, Se) were determined from annual cool-season grass pasture forages over four consecutive winter-spring grazing seasons (2001-2005). Twice monthly forage samples were taken from eight experimental pastures used in beef cattle grazing trials. Two, 2-yr experiments were conducted; animal and pasture data were reported previously. Each e...

Planting seedlings is a common technique for abandoned pastures restoration in the tropics, supposedly by increasing the seedling recruitment and accelerating succession. In this study we evaluated the role of a young restored forest (one year old) in enhancing seedling establishment from two sources (seed rain and seed bank), in the Atlantic Rainforest region in Southern Brazil. We compared ab...

The suggestion that modern pasture cultivars persist less well than their predecessors is not supported by facts. However in some regions there is a crisis in farmer experience of persistence of ryegrass pastures, and ryegrass breeding can contribute to a resolution. This paper considers the turnover of tillers in a pasture, the population structure of a grass sward and the involvement of endop...

The paper describes and discusses the experience in mapping pasture types on the Tibetan Plateau. After pasture data recording in the fi eld campaign of 2004 the application of remote sensing and GIS to refi ne the vegetation mapping became viable. The vegetation types that resulted from the analysis of the fi eld data were aggregated into four main categories ( ́Kobresia pasture`, ́Miscellaneou...

successful pasture-based milk production systems pivot on balancing dairy cows’ feed requirements with seasonal and annual fluctuations in pasture production. in order to maximise cow production from grazing dairy systems, it is necessary to reach an efficient utilization of grazed grass for feeding cows and the development of appropriate grazing management systems designed to maximize daily pa...

Cell culture and genetic engineering techmques can be used to develop improved pasture plants. To utltise these methods we have developed procedures for regenerating plants from tissue cultures of perennial ryegrass and white clover. In both, the plant genotype influences regeneration capacity. There was significant genetic variation among regenerated perennial ryegrass plants in a wde range of...