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i24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 17.2001
Background
Orchardgrass and bluegrass,
common pasture species, differ
in adaptation to grazing and hot,
dry weather.
Bluegrass stores reserves for
regrowth underground in rhi
zomes, has growing points pro
tected close to the soil surface,
and therefore, is tolerant to close
grazing. But often bluegrass is
not productive during hot, dry
weather.
Orchardgrass stores reserves in
the stem base and is less tolerant
to close, intensive grazing, but
can be productive in summer. In
this study, we described species
contribution to seasonal forage
production in a typical mixed
Pennsylvania pasture, and hy
pothesized that intensive, close
grazing would reduce orchard
grass persistence, forage produc
Your livestock
it’s gotta be
©2OOO ADVANTA USA Inc
Garat* la a regialarad
tradtmarV of AOVANTA USA Inc
Grazing Intensity, Pasture Species
Effect On Forage Production
tion, and production during dry,
summer periods.
Procedures
During the grazing seasons of
1998 and 1999, we compared the
effect of two grazing regimes on
a pasture dominated by orchard
grass, bluegrass, and quackgrass,
with some legumes.
The experiment was a split
block with four replications, time
was the whole plot, and grazing
treatments were sub-blocks. The
two grazing regimes were de-.
fined by orchardgrass height:
• Tall pastures were grazed
when the average orchardgrass
height was 11-inches down to
three-inches.
• Short pastures were grazed
when the average orchardgrass
height was 8.5-inches down to
two-inches. Forage available for
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Garst
Modem Science... Traditional Values
grazing and species tiller density
were sampled before each graz
ing event; orchardgrass stubble
(stem base + leaves) was sampled
after each grazing.
Major Findings
After grazing, orchardgrass
stubble stem base and leaf dry
weight were significantly higher
in the tall pastures than the short
pastures. Consequently, orchard
grass tiller density was signifi
cantly higher in the tall pastures
over the two years.
Bluegrass tiller density did not
differ significantly between graz
ing regimes, but quackgrass tiller
density was higher in the short
pastures. Bluegrass tiller density
decreased dramatically during
hot, dry weather.
Bluegrass tiller density was
significantly higher than or
chardgrass and quackgrass.
However, orchardgrass produced
more forage for grazing than
bluegrass and quackgrass during
dry summer periods, and over
the entire season. And quack
grass produced a similar amount
of forage for grazing as bluegrass
produced.
The amount of orchardgrass
and total forage grazed at each
grazing event was significantly
higher under the tall grazing re
gime than the short grazing re
gime. Further, the total forage
grazed over 1998 and 1999 was
significantly higher under the tall
grazing regime than the short
grazing regime.
know,
Garsf.
If you can’t tell, just ask your
livestock. They’ll know the
difference when you serve up
Garst® alfalfa. Garst has finer
stems and excellent leaf
retention. The more tender
young leaves, the higher the
palatability and th
the nutrition
Check out
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To learn more about Garst
alfalfa, contact your local
Garst Guy or call toll-free:
1-888-GO-GARST
M. Carlassare
and H.D. Karsten
Agronomy Department
Penn State University
www.garstseed.com
Red Angus
Marketing
Programs Gaining
New Ground
DENTON, Texas It will not
be long now and the pastures
throughout the country will be
full with new baby calves. Al
though the marketing of this calf
crop is still far in the future, it is
not too early to start thinking
about the options that are avail
able to assist with the marketing
of your 2001 calf crop.
In 1995, the Red Angus Asso
ciation of America implemented
the first USDA process verified
feeder calf program, which re
quires genotypic and source iden
tification. Today this program,
designed to identify true
“Angus” genetics, is experiencing
a tremendous amount of growth
and acceptance through all seg
ments of the beef industry.
Cattle that are the offspring of
a registered Red Angus sire or
dam are eligible to be enrolled in
this certified feeder calf program.
Once enrollment quali
fications are met, the
Red Angus Associa
tion distributes the
certified Red Angus
ear tag, each con
taining an individual
six-digit serial number.
Once enrolled, a
number of marketing
options are available
through the Red
Angus Marketing Pro
gram for cattle both
coming off the ranch
and out of the feedlot.
The recognition of
the certified Red
Angus ear tagging sys
tem continues to gain
ground on a daily
basis. The increased
demand for genetically
sourced and identified
cattle is on the rise and
as a result the number
of cattle enrolled in the
program has reached
all-time highs at the
feeder calf level. Feed
er cattle buyers across
the country have or
ders to locate and pur
chase cattle that are
properly enrolled in
the Red Angus feeder
calf program and car
rying the certified Red
Angus ear tag.
From now through
the end of March, the
Red Angus Associa
tion of America is run
ning a special sale on
the certified Red
Angus ear tags. Com
mercial producers can
contact the Red Angus
National Office before
March 31 to enroll
their calves into the
program and receive
the certified Red
Angus ear tags for a
cost of only $1 per
head.
Certified Red Angus
cattle are quickly be
coming one of the hot
test commodities in
the market place, so
take advantage of the
acceptance and mar
ketability of Red
Angus sired cattle and
call the Red Angus
Marketing Depart
ment at (940) 387-3502
or enroll your calves
today.