Assessing differences in pasture mass with an automated rising plate meter and a direct harvesting technique

Abstract

The ability of a rising plate meter and a direct plot-harvesting technique to detect differences in herbage mass was assessed on 3 occasions in an experiment comparing 2 different phosphorus fertilisers.Values of variance ratios (F-values) indicated that labour expended the techniques were similar in their ability to detect significant differences in herbage mass. The rising plate meter had considerable advantages in capital cost and time efficiency, allowing for at least a 47% reduction in