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Ruminant Nutrition and Forage Utilization
Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 1997;10(3): 289-292.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.1997.289    Published online June 1, 1997.
Effects of grass/legume pasture on forage production, forage nutritive values and live weight gain of the grazing heifer
S. Seo, J. K. Lee, D. E. Shin, E. S. Chung
Abstract
A grazing trial was carried out to determine the effects of different grass/legume pastures on forage production, legume proportion, nutritive value, and animal performance. The pasture mixtures were mainly orchardgrass (OG) + ladino clover (T1), OG + alfalfa (T2), perennial ryegrass + alfalfa (T3), and grass alone mainly OG (T4). The pastures were rotationally grazed 7 times with heifers which had an initial liveweight of about 243 kg in 1991 and 1992. The average plant height at each grazing was 32.4 cm. The annual dry matter yield ranged from 9.19 MT in T4 to 9.61 MT/ha in T3, but no significant difference among different mixture combinations was found. The proportion of ladino clover in T1 mixtures rapidly increased from 21% to 68% during the grazing season. However, the proportion of alfalfa in T2 and T3 ranged from 12% to 23%. The contents of crude protein and calcium, respectively, in the forages were highest in T1 (23.2%, 0.68%) and lowest in T4 (18.5%, 0.13%), while crude fiber content showed the opposite trends. Liveweight gain was greatest on T1 (1.073 kg) and lowest on T4 (643 kg). It was concluded that pasture mixtures containing legume (ladino clover) can increase forage nutritive value and animal performance.
Keywords: Grazing; Clover; Alfalfa; Animal Performance; Nutritive Value; Legume


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