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Performance of Four Pasture Mixtures Defoliated by Mowing or Grazing with Cattle or Sheep¹

Evaluation of pasture mixtures in small-plot clipping trials may be criticized since plant responses after mowing may not be the same as those after grazing. In this investigation, four pasture mixtures (tall fescue-ladino clover, orchardgrass-ladino clover, smooth bromegrass-alfalfa, and Kentucky bluegrass-birdsfoot trefoil) were evaluated under mower, sheep, and cattle defoliation. Only yields of orchardgrass-ladino clover were significantly influenced by method of defoliation; and a significant defoliation method x mixture interaction was due largely to the response of this mixture. Yields of orchardgrass-ladino clover under mowing were significantly less than yields under animal defoliation. Botanical composition of the bromegrass-alfalfa and bluegrass-trefoil mixtures did not appear to be influenced by method of defoliation. Stands of ladino clover were lost early in the investigation. Tall rescue and orchardgrass appeared to be more competitive with weeds under cattle defoliation than when defoliated by mowing or grazing with sheep. Yield rankings of the four pasture mixtures were similar within the three methods of defoliation. It appears that herbage yields obtained in small plot clipping trials are reliable for predicting performance of forages under grazing conditions.

Key Words: yields of dry matter • botanical composition • relative gain in efficiency

² Research Agronomist, Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA, and Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Missouri. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Dr. C. V. Ross and Mr. J. E. Comfort, Professors of Animal Husbandry, University of Missouri, in providing sheep and cattle for use in this investigation.

Received for publication November 20, 1967.

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				J. C. Burns, D. S. Chamblee, and F. G. Giesbrecht Defoliation Intensity Effects on Season-Long Dry Matter Distribution and Nutritive Value of Tall Fescue Crop Sci., July 1, 2002; 42(4): 1274 - 1284. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]