Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
1999
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department
Animal and Nutritional Sciences
Committee Chair
Edward C. Prigge.
Abstract
To establish the effect of sward height (SH) and concentrate supplementation on performance of grazing cattle, twenty-four cross bred Angus beef cow-calves were randomly assigned to two SH treatments (4--8 or 8--11 cm) with three supplement levels: 6.24, 3.12 or 0 kg/d. The study was conducted in three periods (P): May (P1), June/July (P2) and August (P3) in 1996. There was no SH x supplement level x period or SH x supplement level interaction (P > .10) on forage DMI, DMD or grazing time (GT). Cows on low SH had greater (P < .08) DMI and GT (P < .01) than cows on high SH. Forage DMI, DMD and GT decreased (P < .05) with supplementation. Grazing efficiency declined with supplementation and advancing grazing season (P < .01). Cows consumed more forage DM (P < .01) in P1 and P2 than P3. Forage DMI and grazing efficiency decreased with supplementation suggesting that supplemented cattle can optimally be grazed at SH < 8 cm.
Recommended Citation
Gekara, Ondieki J., "Effect of sward height and concentrate supplementation on forage dry matter intake, digestibility and grazing time of spring-calving beef cows" (1999). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 976.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/976