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Influence of management on production, development, and protein utilization of warm-season grasses
Abstract
A 3-year study in the Nebraska Sandhills on a Valentine fine sand (mixed, mesic Typic Ustipsamments) measured the effects of defoliation on dry matter yield and bud and tiller development of sand bluestem (Andropogon gerardii var. paucipilus (Nash) Fern.), prairie sandreed (Calamovilfa longifolia (Hook.) Scribn.), and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash). Defoliation (7 cm) treatments were: 1 defoliation (10 June, 10 July, or 10 Aug), 2 defoliations (10 June and 10 Aug), and 3 defoliations (10 June, 10 July, and 10 Aug). Control plants were defoliated only in October. Treatments were initiated annually and for a 3-year period (1986 to 1988). Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.) from near Mead, Nebraska and sand bluestem, prairie sandreed, and smooth brome from the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory near Whitman, Nebraska were collected to measure rumen protein degradation (12 h in situ technique). Following 1 year of defoliation highest production and development of sand bluestem and prairie sandreed occurred with multiple defoliations. After 3 years, a single June or July defoliation of sand bluestem optimized production and development while a 2 defoliation scheme was optimum for prairie sandreed. After 3 years of defoliation, the control was highest in total yield and buds and tillers. The optimum defoliation scheme considering production and development was a single July defoliation. Rumen escape protein, averaged over harvest dates of switchgrass (51%), was higher than smooth brome (19%) from near Mead, NE. Prairie sandreed (57%) had higher values than sand bluestem (51%) and switchgrass (40%) from the Nebraska Sandhills. Concentration of escape protein averaged over harvest dates and species (smooth brome, switchgrass) was higher in leaves than stems (50 and 19 mg protein/g DM, respectively).
Subject Area
Agronomy|Range management
Recommended Citation
Mullahey, John Jeffrey, "Influence of management on production, development, and protein utilization of warm-season grasses" (1989). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9013617.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9013617