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THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF COCKSFOOT FOGGAGE FOR WINTER GRAZING IN SOUTH‐WEST SCOTLAND
Author(s) -
Castle M. E.,
Watson J. N.
Publication year - 1961
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1961.tb00247.x
Subject(s) - grazing , dry matter , acre , agronomy , fertilizer , yield (engineering) , hectare , pasture , zoology , biology , environmental science , ecology , agriculture , materials science , metallurgy
The production and use of cocksfoot foggage for winter grazing at the Hannah Dairy Research Institute in the period 1956–61 is described. Two acres of cocksfoot (S37) were sown broadcast in 1956 and two acres were drilled in rows 28 in apart in 1957. The average annual application of fertilizer nutrients was 118 lb. N, 51 1b. P2O5 and 142 lb. K2O per acre. The mean yield of the broadcast section was 7450 lb. dry matter/acre/annum compared with 6090 lb. from the rowcrop section. Normally two crops of grass were harvested from the field in the summer, and one grazing was made in the winter. The yield of winter herbage dry matter was 28% and 26% of the total annual yield of the broadcast and the rowcrop sections, respectively. The field was grazed for four successive winters by 5–10 bulling heifers each weighing 650–850 lb. They received no other feed during the grazing period. Grazing started in December and finished in February, March or April in different years. The mean intake of herbage dry matter was only 6 lb./day, and on average the heifers lost 80 lb. liveweight each winter. This loss was regained after 4–6 weeks when the winter grazing finished. Twenty‐nine of the 30 heifers held to the first or second service while grazing the winter herbage. On average the broadcast section gave 340 heifer‐grazing‐days per acre during the winter and the rowcrop section 260 days. The cost of a heifer‐grazing‐day was 3id. and 4id. on the broadcast and rowcrop sections, respectively. The dry matter of the herbage cut on 19 December 1960 had a digestible crude protein content of 59% and a starch equivalent of 34. It is concluded that on well‐drained land the technique of foggage production and of winter grazing can usefully extend the normal grazing season and hence reduce the costs of winter feeding.