Forage systems for beef production from conception to slaugther. I. Cow-calf production

• Published in: Journal of animal science Vol. 70
• Main Authors: Allen V.G, Fontenot J.P, Notter D.R, Hammes R.C. Jr
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 1992
• Subjects: aliment pour animaux; beef cattle; besoin en main d' oeuvre; botanical composition; bovin de boucherie; calves; composicion botanica; composition botanique; cows; demanda de trabajo; digestibilidad; digestibilite; digestibility; feeds; foin; frecuencia de las cosechas; frequence de recolte; ganado de carne; gramineas; graminee; grasses; grazing systems; harvesting frequency; hay; heno; labour requirements; legumes; legumineuse; leguminosas; peso; peso al destete; piensos; poids; poids au sevrage; sistemas de pastoreo; systeme de paturage; ternero; vaca; vache; veau; weaning weight; weight
• ISSN: 0021-8812; 1525-3163

Six year-round, all-forage, three-paddock systems for beef cow-calf production were used to produce five calf crops during a 6-yr period. Forages grazed by cows during spring, summer, and early fall consisted of one paddock of 1) tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.)-ladino clover (Trifolium repens L.) or 2) Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.)-white clover (Trifolium repens L.). Each of these forage mixtures was combined in a factorial arrangement with two paddocks of either 1) fescue-red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), 2) orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.)-red clover, or 3) orchardgrass-alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), which were used for hay, creep grazing by calves, and stockpiling for grazing by cows in late fall and winter. Each of the six systems included two replications; each replicate contained 5.8 ha and was grazed by eight Angus cow-calf pairs for a total of 480 cow-calf pairs. Fescue was < 5% infected with Acremonium coenophialum. Pregnancy rate was 94%. Cows grazing fescue-ladino clover maintained greater (P < 0.05) BW than those grazing bluegrass-white clover, and their calves tended (P < 0.09) to have slightly greater weaning weights (250 vs 243 kg, respectively). Stockpiled fescue-red clover provided more (P < 0.05) grazing days and required less (P < 0.05) hay fed to cows than stockpiled orchardgrass plus either red clover or alfalfa. Digestibilities of DM, CP, and ADF, determined with steers, were greater (P < 0.05) for the orchardgrass-legume hays than for the fescue-red clover hay. All systems produced satisfactory cattle performance, but fescue-ladino clover combined with fescue-red clover required minimum inputs of harvested feed and maintained excellent stands during 6 yr.