Digital Commons Network^™

Forage Options For Dairy Cows, Mohammed R. Islam, Sergio C. Garcia

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

To remain competitive internationally, the Australian dairy industry will need to increase milk production per unit of land by producing and utilising more from home-grown feed. In the context of decreasing land availability but increasing feed cost per unit of land, increasing production and utilisation of home-grown feed is crucial to increase milk production in pasture-based dairy farms (Fariña et al., 2011). Pure pasture-based systems can achieve a maximum of ~20 t dry matter (DM)/ha/yr, although in practice top commercial farmers hardly exceed 15-16 t DM/ha. A strategy to increase productivity of forages is to select adequate combinations of …

System Fitness Of Grazeable Forages For Large Herds In Automatic Milking Systems, Mohammed R. Islam, Sergio C. Garcia, Cameron E. F. Clark, Kendra L. Kerrisk

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Automatic milking rotary (AMR) systems have the capacity to milk 800 cows. To maintain a pasture-based system whereby > 50% of the total diet is pasture (Garcia and Fulkerson, 2005), large herds milked by AMR will be required to walk significant distances. Walking distances of greater than 1-km are associated with an increased incidence of undesirably long milking intervals and reduced milk yield (Lyons N, unpubl. data). The aim of this study was to investigate the total land area required and associated walking distance for large automatic milking system (AMS) herds when incorporating complementary forage rotations (CFR; Garcia et al., …

Effect Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus Application On Productivity, Nutrient Uptake And Quality Of Teosinte (Zea Mexicana L.) Fodder, Magan Singh, A. S. Harika, P. S. Oberoi, Rakesh Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Teosinte (Zea mexicana L.) is popularly known as Makchari being a close relative of maize. It provides succulent, palatable and nutritive fodder during Kharif season for feeding the animals as green fodder or conserved fodder in the form of silage. Teosinte is an excellent multicut fodder which gives high yield of nutritious green lush fodder in 65-70 days with less inputs as compared to maize. Nitrogen is an essential component of proteins, nucleic acid, enzymes, coenzymes, chlorophyll and cell wall. Phosphorus plays a vital role in crop production as it is involved in CO₂ fixation, sugar metabolism, energy …

Improved Modelling Of Lucerne (Medicago Sativa L.) Production For Grazing Livestock, Andrew Smith

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Lucerne (or alfalfa; Medicago sativa L.)-based pastures play an important role in livestock and mixed farms (croplivestock) in Australia. If lucerne is to be more widely adopted, it will be important that landholders are able to plan to maximize its benefits to their livestock enterprises (usually as a part of a diverse feed base), as well as assess the benefits and minimizing the costs of lucerne phases to subsequent crops. However, the ability to accurately model lucerne plant physiology across the full spectrum of environments, genotypes and cultivars remains elusive. This study aimed to review and revise the description of …

Gaps And Variability In Pasture Utilisation In Australian Pasture-Based Dairy Systems, Sergio C. Garcia, Cameron E. F. Clark, Kendra L. Kerrisk, Mohammed R. Islam, S. R. Fariña, J. Evans

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

We used commercial farm data from 4 states of Australia and 9 subsets of data from 4 whole farm system studies conducted in Australia and New Zealand to: (1) explore the relationship between pasture utilisation and farm profitability; (2) identify gaps and causes of both between and within-farm variability in pasture utilisation; and (3) discuss possibilities to reduce these gaps through the application of technology-based solutions. Results confirm that the amount of pasture utilised per ha is a key driver of profitability of Australian pasture-based systems. In spite of this, the gap between potential (research) and commercial reality is huge. …

The Role Of Botanical Garden Of Pbai In Bydgoszcz In Promoting The Crop And Usage Of Perennial C4 Grasses In Poland, Włodzimierz Majtkowski, Gabriela Majtkowska, Bartosz Tomaszewski

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Among the over 300 grass species known from Poland, there are about 160 species well established in the flora (~130 native with C3 photosynthesis pathway and ~30 aliens), and nearly 150 ephemerophytes, occasional escapers from cultivation or cultivated species (Mirek and Piękoś-Mirkowa 2002). Grasses from other climatic zones have been introduced to our country in recent years, especially as ornamental plants and as a source of biomass for energy purposes. The studies conducted since the 1990s in Botanical Garden of PBAI in Bydgoszcz, where the National Grass Collection is located, have contributed considerably to the popularization of C4 grasses in …

Little Effect Of Species Richness And Vegetation Composition On Herbage Production And Quality In A Permanent Temperate Grassland, Johannes Isselstein, Tatiana From, Ute Petersen, Nicole Wrage-Mönnig

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Phytodiversity of grasslands has been shown to support production and other ecosystem services (e.g.Weigel et al. 2009, Tilman et al. 2012). However, in many of these studies, species richness was controlled by sowing and weeding and it was questionable to what extent the findings would also be applicable to permanent 'real world' grasslands where the species number is dependent on site and management conditions. In addition there is uncertainty about the effect of diversity on the herbage value for ruminants (Wrage et al. 2011). In a new approach to biodiversity experiments, we combined experimental and observational measures …

Yak Rearing On High Altitude Pastures Of Northeastern Himalaya Of India: Their Utilization Strategies And Rejuvenation, Vijay Paul, Sanjit Maiti, G. Krishnan, D. Medhi, S. M. Deb

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Yak rearing on alpine pastures is the main occupation of the highland pastoral nomads (Brokpa and Dokpas) of north-east (NE) India. These pastoral nomads living in the remote mountains solely rely on high altitude pastures for their nutritional and livelihood security because of virtual existence of agricultural activities in this area. They rear yaks under transhumance and utilize various pastures while migrating from low land winter pastures to high altitude alpine pastures during summer. Therefore, the temperate and alpine pastures are the major feed resources for the yaks. The indiscriminate use of pastures and impending climate change results …

Use Of Native Grassland In Small-Scale Dairy Systems In The Highlands Of Central Mexico. A Case Study, P. A. Sainz-Sanchez, Carloss Manuel Arriaga-Jordan, D. Heredia Nava, C. G. Martinez-Garcia, F. Vicente, L. R. Garcia-Winder, A. Martinez-Fernandez

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Small-scale dairy systems in Mexico comprise 78% of specialized dairy farms and provide 37% of national production. They are small farms with herds 3-35 cows plus replacements, and rely on family labour (Posadas-Domínguez et al., 2014).

In the highlands, many farms have native grasslands, grazed during the rainy season, and supplemented with other feeds as maize straw, maize grain and maize ears. Native grasslands have not been studied in this context. This is a case study on the use of native grassland in a small-scale dairy farm. The objective was to determine how native grasslands are integrated in feeding …

Strategies To Ameliorate Pasture Production For Livestock In High Altitude Regions, M. M. Roy

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The high altitude regions in India exhibit a diverse climate, topography, vegetation, ecology and land use pattern. The annual average rainfall varies from 80 mm in Ladakh to over 200 cm in some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The vegetation varies from the scrub in the lower hills to arctic in the Greater Himalaya (GJK 2004). In this region, Ladakh is a unique land form encompassing distinct physical features, ecology, environment, ethnicity, agricultural systems and livestock rearing practices. This region experiences a very hostile climate and winter temperature may go as low as -30⁰ C. Summer temperature …

Local Use And Knowledge Validation Of Fodder Trees And Shrubs Resources Browsed By Livestock In Manipur (India), R. Joseph Koireng, Ansarul Haq, Kh. Priya Devi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

North Eastern states of India particularly in Manipur livestock rearing were being considered as one of the important homestead activities in the farm household. In the rural household economy, livestock is considered as an inseparable component in the whole farm business, as the production of milk and meat as well as manure, draught and transportation depends on it. It provides nutritional security to farm family and stabilizes farm income too.

As a major source of animal feeds in Manipur, fodder trees and shrubs are highly valued by farmers. They have deep root systems enabling the extraction of water and nutrients …

Pasture Management For Sustainable Forage Production, Pijush Kanti Mukherjee, Putan Singh, S. S. Singh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the livestock management grazing was the major feed resources in the past and even today a significant portion of livestock is being sustained on grazing resources from pastures and other grazing lands like forest, fallow lands, cultivable waste lands etc.

During the last few decades ever increasing livestock population has created enormous grazing pressure on pasture resources leading to deterioration and destruction of pastures. This has led to the urgent need of improvement of pastures as well as judicious implementation of grazing management practices. There has been certain constraints on pasture development which include fragmentation and degradation of …

Production And Quality Assessment Of Pasture Crop In Red Lateritic Wasteland Of Central Chhattisgarh, Mahendra Nath Naugraiya, G. S. Tomar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The livestock constitutes a very important component in rural economy, as in agriculture. Our country largely depends on livestock for manure and power. The availability of fodder is short from the requirement and an estimate of several agencies, there is more than 300 per cent gap between availability and requirement (Anon, 1980). Most of the livestock depend either partially or completely on natural and developed pastoral system, but the existing practices of utilization of range lands, grasslands and forest areas natural resources and increasing land degradation. In the improved pastoral system in wastelands, the carrying capacity of grass-legumes pastoral field …

Effects Of Alternate Furrow Irrigation On The Forage Quality Of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa), Xiao Yu, Zhengang Guo, Tingting Jia, Yuying Shen

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is widely used to establish pasture to sustain animal production because of its high nutritional quality for livestock (Bouton, 2012). Therefore improving quality of alfalfa pasture is the main goal for establishing pasture throughout the world. Irrigation is an important approach for achieving high qualities of alfalfa pasture, however, the scarcity of water threatens the sustainability of world alfalfa production, requiring us to force on using water more efficiently (Liu and Guo, 2013). Alternate furrow irrigation has been proved as a water-saving technique to promote fruit quality of tomatoes and grapevines and the seed quality …

The Impact Of Surface Coal Mining On The Pre- And Post-Mining Agricultural Potential Of The Grassland Biome Of Southern Africa, Wayne F. Truter, T. Bredell, J. Olivier, D. Van Heerden, P. Mosebi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Surface mining of coal is widespread in the grassland areas of the Mpumalanga Province in South Africa, and is the main cause of many environmental impacts in this agriculturally important region. To ensure healthy and productive vegetation after the reclamation process, disturbed soils need to be ameliorated and re-vegetated with locally adapted grass species to protect, preserve and improve soils for future agricultural use. To date, soil compaction is regarded as one of the main factors that cause severe restrictions in the effective rooting depth of plants, and the level of compaction is strongly influenced by altered soil water contents, …

Salt-Tolerant Forages For Irrigated Saline Land In Central Iraq, Iman S. Salman, Edward G. Barrett-Lennard, Kareem Kadhim, Shoaib Ismail, Hayley C. Norman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Salinity is a major problem in the irrigated zones of central and southern Iraq. We investigated biomass production from five salt-tolerant forage species, represented by 15 introduced accessions and 3 local accessions, during two successive summer growing seasons. Species included pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), sorghum (Sorghum bicolour), guar (Cluster bean; Cyamopsis tetragonoloba), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and sesbania (Sesbania aculeata and S. sesban). The research site was located in the Al-Dujaila irrigation project area in Wasit. The soil had a silty clay texture with moderate salinity (ECe 10-20 dS/m). The site was …

Improving Grassland Quality In Communal Arable Lands In The Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, Theunis L. Morgenthal, Pieter W. Conradie, Gideon Jordaan, Unathi Gulwa, Neil Ballard, John Howieson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Overgrazing and shifting cultivation practise have severely degraded communal lands in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Methods need to be developed to improve forage quality of grazing land, especially previously cultivated lands. The aim of the study was to investigate legume species to rehabilitate arable lands abandoned from cropping, to enhance their forage quality, productivity and ecological integrity. The study was conducted in seven communities within the Eastern Cape Province. This study showed that within the communal lands studied extensive areas have been cultivated and the majority of this land is now poorly utilised. Natural grasslands ploughed for cropping …

Grassland Rehabilitation Through Re-Designing Livestock Management Systems, Guodong Han, Zhongwu Wang, Zhiguo Li, Mengli Zhao, David R. Kemp, David L. Michalk, Kris M. Havstad

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands are one of the most important land types supplying critical ecosystem services including feed for livestock grazing. They occupy ~54% of the world’s ice-free land surface. China contains the third largest area of grassland in the world, ~400 M ha, ~40% of China’s land surface. Chinese grasslands are severely degraded primarily due to overgrazing, which contributes to local poverty because of poor livestock production. To both recover the degraded grassland and to enhance the local herders’ income, a large farm-scale experiment was conducted in a desert steppe of Inner Mongolia, China from 2007 to 2012. We used a baseline …

Environment Impact Of Moxidectin In Sheep Faeces Upon Dung Diptera In South Of Brazil, Alda L. G. Monteiro, Susana Gilaverte, Maria Angela M. Fernandes, Alessandre P. Colavite, Paulo Guimarães, Mylena T. P. Peres, Cláudio J. A. Da Silva

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Dung Diptera can be beneficial to the environment because the adults feed on, deposit eggs in, and the larval nutrition depends on the feaces of animals which significantly im-proves nutrient cycling. However, anthelmintics which are used to control internal parasites have long persistence with a long half-life in faeces. This is harmful to the coprofauna and may adversely affect the diversity of this environmen-tal system. In this study we evaluated the toxicity of moxidectin anthelmintic on the dung Diptera population in pastures of South of Brazil.

Mix Cropping Of Smooth Vetch And Barley Under Cold Rainfed Conditions, Mahmoud Pouryousef, Khoshnood Alizadeh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Drylands are mainly used for wheat and food legumes production and there is increasing demand to forage crops in these areas. About 2-3 million hectares of arable lands across Iran are left as fallow every year (Alizadeh, 2010) which could be used to suitable forage crops. Considerable variation has been reported in herbage and grain yields of improved vetches (Vicia spp.) under Iranian rainfed conditions. Introduction of annual feed legumes in dryland cropping systems that are dominated by cereals would reduce pest and disease risk and increase sustainable productivity. However, vetch species as monocultures produce low forage yield under …

Ethical Use Of Cereal Legume Intercrop Forages For Feeding Of Sheep And Pasture Development, S. B. Maity, K. K. Singh, G. Prabhu, N. Das

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Cereal forages are important in the feeding of livestock for their high energy and dry matter content. However, they are low in protein content and inferior in other nutritional quality than the legume forages. Ruminants required protein as well as energy to maintain their production. Supplementation of protein through concentrates is cost effective in livestock production. Besides, ruminant is unique in having the potential for cycling forage materials, poor quality protein and non protein nitrogen sources into human food supply as meat and milk (Eskandary et al., 2009). Thus, management of forages for livestock feeding either in feedlot or in …

Productivity Of White Clover-Grass Mixed Swards, Aleksandrs Adamovics, Olga Adamovica

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Dairy farming is a major branch of agriculture in Latvia. Therefore, providing livestock with high quality grass forage over the whole grazing season is of great importance. However, the cost of obtaining high quality grass forage should not be too high. Perennial forage legume-grass stands meets the required demands best of all. Inclusion of white clover in legume-grass stands contributes to the production of high quality herbage swards (Frame and Newbould, 1986; Laidlaw et al., 1995; Orr et al., 1990; Van Bockstaele, 1985). The nutritive value of white clover depends on the favorable leaf: stem ratio in total …

Yield And N Recovery By Grass Species In Response To Long Term Applications Of Manure And Mineral Fertilizer In A Cool Maritime Climate, Shabtai Bittman, Derek Hunt

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Liquid manure is an important source of nutrients on many modern dairy farms. Nitrogen (N) use efficiency of slurry is usually less than chemical fertilizer, but the difference is less when tested in trials lasting at least 7 years than in short term trials (Schröder et al., 2007). The efficiency of slurry manure N can be improved by minimizing loss of ammonia after application using low emission applicators. In grass stands where injection is impractical, mitigation methods often involve spreading the slurry in narrow bands directly on the soil surface. Losses of N as ammonia, nitrous oxide and leaching have …

Calcium And Phosphorus Ratio In Soil, Native Grasses, Water And Bovines And Its Correlation With Productivity, Anandamoy Kundu, Jaisunder, S. Jeya Kumar, R. B. Rai

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Minerals play vital role in growth, sexual maturity, conception and milk production. Reproductive problems viz. delayed puberty in heifers, post pubertal anoestrus, repeat breeding and prolonged post partum anestrous, prolonged service period and calving interval in cattle has been observed to be a major cause for poor productive and reproductive performance under this island ecosystem. Therefore, the study was undertaken to correlate the extent to which calcium and Phosphorus were responsible for reproductive performance of bovines. In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the concentrate feeding to bovines is uncommon. Thus bovines are fully dependent on grazing or forage feeding. Most of …

Monitoring Of Heavy Metal Contamination In Fodders, Feeds And Milk In Gulbarga District Of Karnataka, K. S. Prasad, D. T. Pal, S. B. N. Rao, B. D. Naveen

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Xenobiotics like heavy metals are increasing in environment due to industrialization, urbanization and agricultural practices which pose threat to animal health and quality animal products. Safe animal feeds are important for health of animals, environment and for the safety of foods of animal origin especially milk (Prasad et al., 2012). To address the issue, monitoring of xenobiotics especially heavy metals in the fodder, feeds and animal products is necessary. The aim of the present study is to find out the status of heavy metals in feeds and milk of Gulbarga district in Karnataka.

Linking Rangeland Management With The Nutritional Physiology And Ecology Of Locusts, Arianne J. Cease

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangeland management practices alter soil and plant characteristics and communities. These changes have implications for the success of pests common to grass and forage systems. Understanding how pests respond to anthropogenic influences is a key variable for the development of sustainable pest management strategies that minimize potential risk and severity of pest damage. For example, heavy livestock grazing in northeast China promotes locust outbreaks by lowering plant nitrogen content. This in turn likely decreases the amount of protein, relative to carbohydrate, that locusts receive. In this case, a low protein/high carbohydrate diet is just what this locust species needs to …

Influence Of Foliar Nutrition Of Selenium On Phytochelatines Content In The Forage Of Red Clover (Trifolium Pratense L.), Iva Klusoňová, Pavel Horký, Jiří Skládanka, Markéta Komínková, Vojtěch Adam, René Kizek, Petr Škarpa, Lucia Hodulíková

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Selenium (Se) is an essential element significantly influencing health status of animals and humans. The insufficient supply of organism with this element leads to many disorders. Conversely, higher intake can be toxic. As a part of selenoproteins, it regulates the antioxidant system and thus prevents the oxidative destruction of biological membranes and prevents the damage of the body by heavy metals. Consequently, its deficiency disrupts the overall health of animals and humans because of involvement of selenium compounds in many biological functions. Selenium concentration of plant biomass is derived from its content in the soil and may considerably vary depending …

Comparative Sulfur Use Efficiency And Water Stress Tolerance In Two Brassica Napus Cultivars, Bok-Rye Lee, Tae-Hwan Kim, Sang-Hyun Park, Qian Zhang, Rashed Zaman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

S-deficiency and/or S-deprivation decreases the cell sap osmotic potential resulting from a net increase of intracellular solutes rather than from a loss of cell water and chlorophyll content resulting in a restriction of Rubisco synthesis and provoked the chlorosis of young leaves (Lee et al., 2014; Muneer et al., 2014). These imply that S-deficiency results in a general inhibition of photosynthesis and protein synthesis. On the other hand, several studies have indicated that S nutrition has a potential role in stress tolerance and defense mechanism. Sulfur is an essential element in the formation of sulfhydryl (S-H) and disulphide bond …

Fodder Yield Of Baby Corn (Zea Mays L.) As Influenced By Mulching, Liming And Integrated Nutrition Management Under Foot Hill Condition Of Nagaland, Rakesh Kumar, Bidyut C. Deka, Manoj Kumar, Neivah Hansing

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Baby corn (Zea mays L.) being one of the most important dual purpose crop is grown widely round the year for its cob as well as green fodder in India. It has an edge over the other cultivated fodder crops due to its higher production potential, wider adaptability, fast growing nature and excellent fodder quality free from toxicants. Baby corn production has been directly integrated with dairying farms in different countries because only 13-20% of fresh ear weight is used as human food and the rest (silk, husk and green stalk) can be used as excellent feed materials for …

Chemical Composition Of Woody Species At Browsed Caatinga Under Different Forage Allowance, Osniel F. De Oliveira, Mércia V. F. Dos Santos, Márcio V. Da Cunha, James P. Muir, Evaristo J. Oliveira De Souza, Felipe M. Saraiva

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Native rangelands are essential for Brazilian livestock production in the northeast Caatinga because they are abundant and inexpensive. Greater knowledge of nutritive values of these native plants is a needed because they fit well in prevailing edapho-climatic conditions. The chemical composition of plants, however, may differ according to ontogeny, elevation, soil, climate, plant community and human actions. Caatinga plants usually have high crude protein (CP) although some of this is fiber-bound (Santos et al., 2009). Browse can therefore become a key livestock diet component.

Condensed tannins (CT) in browse can provide benefits, including anthelmintic activity greater amino acid absorption, …