Premium
Steer Performance and Pasture Productivity among Five Perennial Warm‐Season Grasses
Author(s) -
Burns J. C.,
Fisher D. S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2012.0142
Subject(s) - cynodon dactylon , panicum virgatum , perennial plant , andropogon , grazing , biology , agronomy , forage , pasture , panicum , stocking , hectare , cynodon , festuca arundinacea , poaceae , zoology , ecology , bioenergy , renewable energy , agriculture
Grazing systems in the mid‐Atlantic region of the United States typically utilize perennial warm‐season grasses. Bermudagrass [ Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] has served this function in the region, but the resulting animal performance has been modest. Steer and pasture performance of three native grasses, big bluestem (BBS) ( Andropogon gerardii Vitman), eastern gamagrass (GG) ( Tripsacum dactyloides L.), and switchgrass (SG) ( Panicum virgatum L.), and an introduced Old World bluestem, Caucasian bluestem (CBS) [ Bothriochloa bladhii (Retz.) S.T. Blake], were compared during 6 yr with Tifton 44 bermudagrass (BG) as the control. During summer (June–September), steers continuously stocked on the alternative grasses gained similarly (0.73 kg d −1 ) but more rapidly than those grazing BG (0.49 kg d −1 ). Stocking of BG at 9.9 steers ha −1 was greater than the alternative grasses (5.7 steers ha −1 ), which were similar. Although animal days per hectare were greater for BG, weight gain per hectare was similar (mean = 357 kg ha −1 ) because of the differential gain per day. Canopies of BG and CBS had the least proportion of their mass in leaf (24.5 and 25.0%, respectively) compared with GG (58.2%), BBS (35.6%), and SG (30.9%), with the latter two similar. In general, any one of the grasses can serve as the warm‐season component; however, pastures of BBS, GG, SG, and CBS would be more appropriate for growing ruminants, although at a reduced stocking rate, than BG. The latter would provide adequate forage for mature animals.