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Grass and Forage Crops
Grass and Forage Crops
GRASS AND FORAGE CROPS - grass growth is very rapid during a warm wet
season
18.1 PASTURES AND GRAZING ANIMALS
STANDING HAY – feed resource left when
- the simplest pastures are those created by sowing
the soil dries out the herbage matures and
a single species of pasture plant, which may be a
dies
grass such as Italian ryegrass or a legume such as
lucerne (alfalfa) - Even in wetter conditions, plants in deep shade at
the base of the sward may die, thus giving senescent
TEMPORARY PASTURES – pastures that
herbage of inferior nutritive value.
have limited life (1-4 yrs)
PERMANENT PASTURES – normally - The rate at which grass grows is dependent
include grasses and legumes upon:
NATURAL GRASSLANDS - have an even
1. Environment
greater spread of species, which will include
2. Nutrients available
herbs and shrubs (some of which may be
3. Amount of leaf within the sward that is
regarded as weeds)
intercepting light
GRAMINEAE – grasses
LEGUMINOSEAE – legumes - Immediately after harvesting there is a period of
slow regrowth, followed by an accelerated rate and
- The nutrition of the grazing animal is different finally a period of decreasing growth as the herbage
from that of housed livestock, for several reasons: matures.
1. Diet is variable - As grass swards increase in leaf area, the
2. The grazing animal is that it has to spend photosynthetic capacity of successive newly
time and energy in harvesting its food. expanded leaves is progressively reduced because
of the increasing shade in which they develop.
PASTURE HERBAGE - is a food of high
nutritive value for ruminants - The rate at which regrowth occurs depends upon
o the nutritive value of herbage often the maturity of the crop at the time of harvesting.
falls far below its optimum;
- If the grass is young and leafy, it recovers more
o soil and climate may be unsuitable for
quickly and starts regrowth earlier than when
growing the most nutritious pasture
mature herbage is harvested.
plants, and the grazing management
system employed may fail to ensure CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
that herbage is consistently grazed at
the stage of growth when its nutritive - .The fibre content is related inversely to the crude
value is at its highest. protein content.
- inverse relationship between the protein and fibre grasses mature more rapidly, their protein
contents and phosphorus contents falling to very low
levels, and their fibre content rising
PERENNIAL RYE GRASS (Lolium
perenne) - In the wet tropics:
PURPLE MOOR GRASS (Molinea the herbage available is commonly fibrous
caerulea) but lush
- The total ash content decreases as the plant - in drier areas:
matures.
the mature herbage becomes desiccated
- This is reflected in the calcium content, which and is grazed as ‘standing hay’
follows a similar pattern to that of the total ash in
grasses. - Anatomy of leaves:
- The magnesium content is generally high in the tropical grasses: there are more vascular
early spring but falls off sharply; during the summer bundles and thick-walled bundle sheaths,
it rises, reaching high values in the autumn. and hence more lignin and in the central
tissue of the leaf the mesophyll cells are
PLANT ANATOMY - basic determinant of more densely packed than those in
forage digestibility temperate grasses.
o Plant cell contents, being mainly
soluble carbohydrates and proteins, Soils, fertilisers and weather
are almost completely digestible, but
- The type of soil may influence the composition of
cell walls vary in digestibility
the pasture, especially its mineral content.
according to their degree of
reinforcement with lignin. - Plants normally react to a mineral deficiency in the
soil either by a) limiting their growth or by b)
- digestibility decreases as plants increase in
reducing the concentration of the element in
maturity.
their tissues, or more usually by both.
PLATEAU – period where the relationship is
- The most common mineral deficiencies of grass
complicated by there being a spring period of
herbage are those of phosphorus, magnesium,
up to a month during which the herbage
copper and cobalt.
digestibility remains fairly constant.
- The acidity of the soil is an important factor that
- Digestibility of grasses is also influenced by
can influence, in particular, the uptake of many trace
leaf/stem ratios.
elements by plants.
- As plants mature, the stem comprises an
Mn and Co - poorly absorbed by plants from
increasing proportion of the total herbage and hence
calcareous soils
has a much greater influence on the digestibility of
Mo - low molybdenum levels of herbage are
the whole plant than the leaf.
usually associated with acid soils
TEART - induced copper deficiency; uptake of ammonia, with consequent
associated with high herbage molybdenum energy costs of urea synthesis
levels, generally occurs on pasture grown on
NUTRITIONAL DISORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH
soils derived from Lower Lias clay or
GRASSES
limestone
Nitrate poisoning
- Liberal dressings of fertilisers can markedly affect
the mineral content of plants; it is also known that the - nitrate can accumulate in grasses.
application of nitrogenous fertilisers increases leaf
area and rate of photosynthesis. As a consequence, - The toxic effect in ruminants is caused by the
the crude protein content, and frequently the amide reduction of nitrate to nitrite in the rumen.
and nitrate contents, are increased. NITRITE - oxidises the ferrous iron of
- Application of nitrogenous fertilisers also haemoglobin to the ferric state, producing a
depresses the water-soluble carbohydrate content brown pigment, methaemoglobin, which is
of temperate grasses, which may have an adverse incapable of transporting oxygen to the body
effect on fermentation if the crop is preserved as tissues.
silage. - Toxic signs include trembling, staggering, rapid
- Such factors as climate and season may influence respiration and death.
the nutritive value of pasture. The concentration of - Cereal grasses, maize and weeds such as thistles
sugars and fructans, for example, can be influenced and docks may also contain toxic concentrations of
markedly by the amount of sunshine received by the nitrate.
plant.
Mycotoxicoses
3. Grazing system
MYCOTOXINS – substances produced
ROTATIONAL GRAZING SYSTEMS - when grasses are invaded by fungi
pastures are grazed for short periods at a RYEGRASS STAGGERS – condition that
high stocking rate and grazing pressure; occurs in ruminants and horses grazing
animals harvest most of the herbage on offer, perennial ryegrass.
and the pastures are then rested for longer
o Affected animals are uncoordinated
periods of recovery and may collapse, although mortality
ZERO GRAZING - grass may be cut by is low.
machine and transported to housed animals. o Acremonium loliae – endophytic
o allows greater control over the diet of fungus involved.
grass-fed livestock. o produces the neurotoxic alkaloid
4. Nutrient balance lolitrem B.
PASPALUM STAGGERS - associated with
3 MAJOR GROUPS OF NUTRIENTS IN the Paspalum (tropical pasture plant)
GRASSES: o Claviceps paspali – fungus
1. Protein involved; related to the ergot fungus
2. Fiber – high fiber, low digestibility and energy o Toxins – Paspalinine and
value Paspalitrem A and B
3. Soluble Carbohydrates – high contents of FESCUE FOOT - in which grazing animals
water-soluble carbs are rapidly fermented in become lame and develop gangrene at their
the rumen and may depress the ph, reduce extremities owing to vasoconstriction
fiber digestion (high solu. carb, low fiber o Acremonium coenophialum -
digestion) infects the grass tall fescue; produces
low contents of these carbohydrates ergovaline
reduce microbial protein synthesis in o ERGOVALINE – causes fescue foot
the rumen, leading to an increased FACIAL ECZEMA - causes liver damage in
grazing animals, which leads to the release
into the circulation of bile and the chlorophyll
breakdown product phylloerythrin. These o occurs in pastures, but like many
compounds cause jaundice and other legumes it is more commonly
photosensitisation of the skin. grown on its own.
o Pithomyces chartarum – fungus o found in warm temperate areas and
that produces sporidesmin; grows in in many tropical and subtropical
the pasture litter. countries
o SPORIDESMIN – mycotoxin o protein content is comparatively high
and declines only slowly with maturity
Grass sickness
BERSEEM / EGYPTIAN CLOVER
EQUINE DYSAUTONOMIA – scientific (Trifolium alexandrinum)
name; o an important legume grown in the
o Horses grazing pasture after a dry Mediterranean area and India.
period can develop this condition o It is valued for its rapid growth in the
o characterised by muscular tremors, cooler winter season in the subtropics
difficulty or inability in swallowing, and for its good recovery after cutting
regurgitation of stomach contents, or grazing.
abnormal stance, impaction of the o It has a nutritive value very similar to
colon and loss of weight. that of lucerne.
o CAUSE – not known; however, SAINFOIN (Onobrychis viciifolia)
BOTULINUM TOXIN is involved. o a legume of less economic
o Clostridium botulinum type C – importance than Lucerne
produces botulinum toxin. o the leaf is richer than the stem in
crude protein, ether extract and
18.3 LEGUMES minerals, especially calcium.
PASTURE AND FIELD CROP LEGUMES PEAS (Pisum sativum), BEANS (Vicia
faba), VETCHES (Vicia sativa)
FAMILY LEGUMINOSEAE - contains about o grown as green fodder crops.
18000 species, which are valued for their o When cut at the early flowering stage,
ability to grow in a symbiotic relationship with they are similar in nutritive value to
nitrogen-fixing bacteria and for their drought other legumes.
resistance.
CLOVERS (Trifolium spp.) – most common LEGUMINOUS TREES AND SHRUBS
legumes found in pastures
o Red Clover (T. pretense) - Animals grazing mature grass pastures are often
o White Clover ( T. repens) able to supplement their diet by consuming the
o Subterranean Clover (T. foliage of trees and shrubs, many of which are
subterraneum) legumes.
- the clovers are superior to grasses in protein and BROWSE - collective term applied to food
mineral content (particularly calcium, phosphorus, obtained in this way.
magnesium, copper and cobalt), and their nutritive LEUCAENA (Leucaena leucocephala)
value falls less with age. o one of the best-known browse
- sugars present in clover: species
o also known as ipil-ipil
SUCROSE – main sugar foun in clovers o a valuable source of protein and
FRUCTANS – absent minerals and is also rich in β-
STARCH – present carotene.
o it also contains the toxic amino acid
- tropical legumes are similar anatomically to mimosine
temperate legumes, they differ much less in
digestibility than do tropical and temperate grasses
SUGARCANE (Saccharum officinarum) - All have a low proportion of stem and hence are
less fibrous than either kales or rapes.
- a tropical or subtropical perennial grass that grows
to a height of 4.5–6.0 m or more Toxicity of brassica forage crops
- The crop is processed for its sugar, which leaves - all brassicas contain goitrogenic substances
two by-products: a) molasses and b) bagasse.
THIOCYANATE
BAGASSE – fibrous residue; high-fibre, o In forage crops
lowprotein product of very low digestibility o interferes with the uptake of iodine by
that is sometimes mixed with the cane the thyroid gland and whose effects
molasses for cattle feeding. can be overcome by increasing the
SUGARCANE MOLASSES - is a high- iodine content of the diet.
energy, low-protein food similar in o May develop goiter; lambs may be
composition to the molasses obtained as a born dead or deformed
by-product from sugar beet. FORAGE BRASSICAS
o may also cause a haemolytic
BRASSICAS anaemia in ruminants
HAEMOGLOBINURIA
BRASSICA – genus; a comprises some 40 o Hemoglobin appears in urine
species, of which the following are of
agricultural importance: kales, cabbages, GREEN TOPS
rapes, turnips and swedes
o are grown primarily as root crops - Mangel, fodder beet, sugar beet, turnip and swede
tops may all be used for feeding farm animals
Kales (Brassica oleracea)
- Care is required when feeding with mangel, fodder
- kales include a very wide variety of plant types, and sugar beet tops, since they contain a toxic
which range from short leafy plants 30 cm high, to ingredient that may lead to extensive scouring and
types 2 m tall with stems strong enough to be used distress and, in extreme cases, death
in building.
- The toxicity has been attributed to oxalic acid and
THOUSANDHEAD KALE (var, fruticosa) its salts, which are supposed to be reduced or
o Most common short type removed by wilting.
MARROWSTEM KALE (var, acephala)
o Most common tall type
o Also known as chou moelier
Rapes