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A note on the effects of herbage mass at closing and autumn closing date on spring grass supply on commercial dairy farms

  • M. O'Donovan
  • , P. Dillon
  • , P. Reid
  • , M. Rath
  • , G. Stakelum

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The effects of herbage mass at closing (CHM) and closing date (CD) in autumn on spring herbage mass (SHM) were investigated on 10 dairy farms over a 2-year period. SHM was regressed on CHM and CD. CD had significant (P < 0.001) effect on SHM. Each 1-day delay in closing from 1 October to 11 December reduced SHM by 15.0 kg dry matter (DM)/ha. The effect of CHM varied significantly with farm x year combination. Exponential herbage accumulation curves were fitted to the data to describe the accumulation of herbage from closing in the autumn to final measurement in spring. These models had a r.s.d. of 367 and 320 kg DM/ha for Year 1 and 2, respectively.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)265-269
Number of pages5
JournalIrish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research
Volume41
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 2002
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Closing date
  • Herbage growth
  • Herbage mass

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