Effects of pasture species mixture, management, and environment on the productivity and persistence of dairy pastures in south-west Victoria. 1. Herbage accumulation and seasonal growth pattern
Z. N. Nie A C , D. F. Chapman B , J. Tharmaraj A and R. Clements AA School of Agriculture and Food Systems, The University of Melbourne, Glenormistan Campus, PMB 6200, Terang, Vic. 3264, Australia.
B School of Agriculture and Food Systems, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia.
C Present address: Department of Primary Industries, Primary Industries Research Victoria, Private Bag 105, Hamilton, Vic. 3300, Australia; email: Zhongnan.Nie@dpi.vic.gov.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 55(6) 625-636 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR03174
Submitted: 20 August 2003 Accepted: 31 March 2004 Published: 7 July 2004
Abstract
An experiment was conducted on 2 contrasting soil types for 4 years (1998–2001) to determine the effects of plant species mixture, management inputs, and environment on sown species herbage accumulation (SSHA) and seasonal growth pattern of pastures for dairy production. Five pasture types, combined with 3 management treatments, were established in south-west Victoria. Three of the pasture types were based on perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and white clover (Trifolium repens L.). One pasture type included short-term, winter- or summer-active species in the perennial ryegrass–white clover mixture. The final pasture type was based on the perennial grasses cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), and phalaris (Phalaris aquatica L.). The 3 management treatments involved different levels of fertiliser input and weed/pest control.
Pasture type had a significant impact on SSHA in 3 of 4 years. In the first year, the mixture based on cocksfoot, tall fescue, and phalaris had the lowest SSHA, but this pasture matched other types from 1999 onwards and yielded the highest in 2000, the year with the driest summer during the experiment. Ryegrass–white clover mixture based on old cultivars had generally lower SSHA than the other types except in the first year. Higher fertiliser inputs increased SSHA by 16–28% in 1998, 1999, and 2001. There was a significant site × pasture type interaction on SSHA in 2000. The mixture based on cocksfoot, tall fescue, and phalaris produced up to 1–2 t DM/ha.year more than the other types in summer and autumn in dry–normal years. The inclusion of short-term species, or more stoloniferous white clover cultivars, in the ryegrass–white clover mixture, had little effect on SSHA, or on the seasonal distribution of pasture growth.
Pastures based on perennial grasses other than perennial ryegrass appear to have potential for altering the seasonality of pasture growth in south-west Victoria, although the benefits resulting from changing pasture type will depend on environment. Overall, increasing management inputs usually had a greater effect on SSHA than changing pasture type, but management responses were also affected by environment, particularly through the effects of a dry season on a sandy soil type.
Additional keywords: soil type, pasture yield, growth rate, sown species, interaction.
Acknowledgments
We thank John and Kate Dalton for their permission and assistance with this experiment on their property; DemoDairy at Terang for providing the site and assistance in grazing the trial; Ewan Letts, Anne Lynch, Andrea Lane, and John Marshall for technical assistance; John Graham, Paul Quigley, Geoff Saul, Pedro Evans, and Nat Bannan for their comments on the manuscript; and Gavin Kearney for his advice on statistical analysis, and Malcolm MaCaskill and Graeme Ward for climate data at Terang. This work was funded by Dairy Australia, WestVic Dairy, and the University of Melbourne. Two degree students, A. Adams and G. Ross, were involved in the project in 1998.
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