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GRAZING MANAGEMENT

Animal and Pasture Productivity of ‘Coastal’ and ‘Tifton 44’ Bermudagrass at Three Nitrogen Rates and Associated Soil Nitrogen Status

^a USDA-ARS and Dep. Crop Science and Dep. Animal Science, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695
^b Dep. Soil Science, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695
^c USDA-ARS, Watkinsville, GA 30677. Cooperative investigation of the USDA-ARS and the North Carolina ARS, Raleigh, NC 27695-7643. The use of trade names does not imply endorsements by USDA-ARS or by the North Carolina ARS of the products named or criticism of similar ones not mentioned

^* Corresponding author (Joe.Burns{at}ars.usda.gov).

‘Coastal’ and ‘Tifton 44’ (T44) bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] are well adapted across the lower southern United States, but the grazing response of (T44) to N application in the Piedmont of the upper South warrants further evaluation. This 3-yr experiment compared animal and pasture productivity of Coastal and T44 with three annual N rates of 101, 202, and 303 kg of N ha^–1 on a Cecil clay loam (fine, kaolinitic thermic Typic Kanhapludult) soil typical of the Piedmont. Herbage mass differed for Coastal and T44 (3.5 and 3.0 Mg ha^–1 respectively, P < 0.01), but not among N rates. The canopy of T44 was leafier (20.6 vs. 14.5% of dry matter) than Coastal and greater for in vitro true organic matter disappearance (IVTOD) (522 vs. 498 g kg^–1) and CP (107 vs. 84 g kg^–1) and lesser in NDF (596 vs. 605 g kg^–1). The diet selected from T44 was greater in IVTOD (764 vs. 743 g kg^–1) and lesser in NDF (596 vs. 605 g kg^–1) giving greater steer average daily gain (0.63 kg vs. 0.57 kg; P < 0.01) which increased (P = 0.05) with N rate. Weight gain ha^–1 (884 kg) and effective feed units (EFU) (4735 kg ha^–1) were similar, and N rate linearly increased gain from 723 to 1073 kg ha^–1 and EFU from 3978 to 5523 kg ha^–1. Soil inorganic N was similar between cultivars but differed among soil depths. Tifton 44 pasture was greater in nutritive value, hence steer performance, and as productive as Coastal in the Piedmont.

Abbreviations: ADF, acid detergent fiber • ADG, average daily gain • CELL, cellulose • CP, crude protein • EFU, effective feed unit • HM, herbage mass • HEMI, hemicellulose • IVTOD, in vitro true organic matter digestion • LOF, lack of fit • NDF, neutral detergent fiber • NIRS, near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy • OM, organic matter • T44, Tifton 44 bermudagrass

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Received for publication July 3, 2008.