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THE FREQUENCY OF DEFOLIATION OF INDIVIDUAL TILLERS IN A SET‐STOCKED SWARD
Author(s) -
Hodgson J.
Publication year - 1966
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.1365-2494.1966.tb00483.x
Subject(s) - grazing , agronomy , biology
A method designed to study the defoliation of individual tillers in a set‐stocked sward is described. This was used on S23 ryegrass swards carrying 19 (medium‐stocked) and 30 (heavily‐stocked) sheep/ac. The tillers in the heavily‐stocked sward were defoliated, on average, every 7–8 days, and those in the medium‐stocked sward every 11–14 days. The total green leaf length (GLL) of tillers grazed by the sheep was generally greater than that of tillers not grazed. On average 27 and 40% of the GLL of tillers in the medium‐ and heavily‐stocked swards respectively was removed at each grazing. Older leaves on the grazed tillers were defoliated much less frequently than were younger leaves. It is suggested that a rational analysis of the relationship between the grazing animal and the grazed sward cannot be made without more work of this nature.