Premium
GRASSLAND RECORDING. II
Author(s) -
Baker R. D.
Publication year - 1964
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.1365-2494.1964.tb01153.x
Subject(s) - grazing , grassland , dry matter , environmental science , agronomy , zoology , organic matter , agricultural engineering , mathematics , biology , ecology , engineering
Two systems of recording the output of grass fields—by cow‐days (CD.) and by utilized starch equivalent (U.S.E.)—were compared with field measurements of the dry matter and digestible matter consumed over a period of two years. On one farm, each recording system was positively correlated with both the amount of dry matter and the amount of digestible matter consumed from individual fields by grazing cows. Consequently, the two systems reflected equally well the total quantity of utilized herbage and its quality. This was explained by a highly significant correlation between the two recording systems. The same correlation between the two recording systems existed on 20 other farms. It was concluded that the C.D. and the U.S.E. systems gave equally reliable results when assessing field output within dairy farms. Because C.D. can be determined with greater ease they should be used instead of the U.S.E. system. However, the U.S.E. system is still advocated for assessing grass utilization for animal production on a farm basis, since it indicates the level of efficiency which farmers achieve in using their grass.