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Abstract Detail



Ecological Section

Papadopoulos, Yousef A. [1], Duynisveld, John L. [2], Tremblay, Gaëtan F. [3], Bélanger, Gilles [4], Lajeunesse, Julie [5], Lafrenière, Carole [6], Thomas, Bill [7], Halliday, Les [8], Fillmore, Sherry A. E. [9].

Agronomic performance of forage species and their cultivars in grazed grass-legume binary mixtures.

Although most forage production in Canada is comprised of species mixtures, there is limited research on identifying the best species and cultivars to include within forage mixtures. The objective of this study was to determine the long-term agronomic performance of forage species and their cultivars in grazed binary grass-legume mixtures. In 2010, plots were established in a factorial design with 6 grass and 3 legume species. Subplots were included to evaluate three cultivars within each grass species. The species included timothy (Phleum pratense L.), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), tall fescue [Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub], orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), meadow fescue (Festuca elatior L.), meadow brome (Bromus biebersteinii Roemer & J.A. Schultes), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and white clover (Trifolium repens L.). Cattle mob grazing three to four times per year was used to simulate a rotational grazing system in the 4 post-seeding years. Legume species, grass species, and grass cultivar each significantly affected seasonal herbage DM yield and seeded grass frequency of occurrence (a conservative estimate of plant density, plants m-2) in the five year old sward. High yielding binary mixtures in the 4th post-seeding year were white clover and tall fescue, trefoil and tall fescue, trefoil and orchardgrass, alfalfa and timothy, and alfalfa and tall fescue. Following 4 years of grazing, white clover-based binary mixtures had the highest seeded legume frequency of occurrence (25 plants m-2), but the lowest legume contribution to yield (5%). Legume contribution to yield in birdsfoot trefoil- and alfalfa- based binary stands were 19 and 14%, respectively. Significant interactions between grass cultivar and legume species, and between grass species, grass cultivar, and legume species on seeded grass frequency of occurrence suggest that the choice of grass cultivar, especially when seeded with white clover, can affect the long-term survival of the grass species in a grass-legume binary sward grazed by cattle.


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1 - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Atlantic Food & Horticulture Research Centre, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, PO Box 550, 100-5 Haley Institute, 58 River Road, Truro, NS, B2N 5E3, Canada
2 - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,, Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre, Nappan Experimental Farm, Nappan, NS, B0L 1C0, Canada
3 - Botanical Society of America, 4244 Castleman Ave, St. Louis, MO, 93108, USA
4 - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Soils and Crops Research and Development Centre, 2560 Hochelaga Blvd, Quebec, Qc, G1V 2J3, Canada
5 - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Research Farm, 1468 Saint-Cyrille St., Normandin, Qc, G8M4B8, Canada
6 - Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Notre-Dame-du-Nord, QC, J0Z 3B0 , Canada
7 - Perennia, 99 Dr Bernie MacDonald Drive,, Bible Hill, NS, B6L 2H5, Canada
8 - PEI Department of Agriculture, PO Box 1600, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 7N3 , Canada
9 - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Soils and Crops Research and Development Centre,, 2560 Hochelaga Blvd, , Quebec, QC, G1V 2J3, Canada

Keywords:
none specified

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 21
Location: Salon 17/18/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 3:30 PM
Number: 21008
Abstract ID:648
Candidate for Awards:None


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