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Effects of the field drying of herbage on sward regrowth
Author(s) -
OWEN I. G.,
WILMAN D.
Publication year - 1983
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.1365-2494.1983.tb01640.x
Subject(s) - hay , agronomy , dry matter , leaf blade , biology , growing season , yield (engineering) , materials science , metallurgy
Grass which had grown without interruption from late April was cut as for hay in early July in each of 2 years. Fifteen dates of removal of the cut herbage were compared ranging, at 1‐d intervals, from the day of cutting to 14 d after cutting. Sward regrowth was studied. A delay of 5 d in removing cut herbage reduced herbage dry matter harvested during the remainder of the growing season by 9% and a delay of 10 d reduced yield by 16%. Delaying the removal of cut herbage reduced the density of grass tillers considerably in the short term, but the effect had worn off in 8 to 12 weeks. The presence of cut herbage reduced the rate of extension of leaf blades considerably. Delaying the removal of cut herbage reduced the area per leaf blade and the weight per unit area and these effects persisted for several weeks. Grass growing under cut herbage had a less negative leaf water potential and a rather cooler but much darker environment in which to grow than uncovered grass.