Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T19:43:55.520Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Decline in plant and animal production from ageing pastures of green panic (Panicum maximum var. trichoglume)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

G. B. Robbins ,
J. J. Bushell  and
K. L. Butler
G. B. Robbins
Affiliation:
Queensland Department of Primary Industries, ‘Brian Pastures’ Research Station, Gayndah, Queensland 4625, Australia
J. J. Bushell
Affiliation:
Queensland Department of Primary Industries, ‘Brian Pastures’ Research Station, Gayndah, Queensland 4625, Australia
K. L. Butler
Affiliation:
Queensland Department of Primary Industries, P.O. Box 689, Rockhampton, Queensland 4700, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The impact of age on the productivity of sown pastures of green panic (Panicum maximum var. trichoglume cv. Petrie) growing on black earth soil in south-east Queensland was measured from 1976 to 1981. During winter and spring, weaner steers grazed at 2·4 animals/ha on summer-spelled pastures which, in each year, were 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years old. Pastures were given 58 kg N/ha as urea each year. Live-weight gain averaged 74 kg/head on 1-year-old pasture but only 35 kg/head on 5-year-old pasture, with most of the reduction in weight gain in winter (June to August) occurring up to age 3 years, and with most of the reduction in spring (September to November) occurring for pastures older than 3 years.

The decline in animal production was not caused by changes in species composition of the pasture. Rather, weight gain on older pastures was restricted by pasture quality in winter and by reduced pasture growth in spring, but not by presentation dry-matter yield. The decrease in pasture productivity seemed to be primarily due to reductions in available soil mineral N with age, since the N concentration of plant shoots decreased as a pasture aged. Tt is postulated that the immobilization of N in decomposing grass litter is a primary cause of productivity decline in ageing pastures.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 108 , Issue 2 , April 1987 , pp. 407 - 417
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Addison, K. B., Cameron, D. G. & Blight, G. W. (1985). Effects of three levels of nitrogen and mowing on pasture and animal production from spring/summer grazed Panicum maximum var. trichoglume (green panic) pastures. Tropical Grasslands 19, 59–68.Google Scholar
Agricultural Research Council (1980). The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Bruce, R. C. & Rayment, G. E. (1982). Analytical methods and interpretations used by the Agricultural Chemistry Branch for soil and land use surveys. Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Bulletin QB82004, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Campbell, N. A. & Arnold, G. W. (1973). The visual assessment of pasture yield. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 13, 263–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Catchpoole, V. R. (1983). Long-term fertility of a brigalow clay soil. CSIRO Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures Annual Report 1982/83, p. 68.Google Scholar
Garwood, E. A., Tyson, K. C. & Clement, C. R. (1977). A comparison of yield and soil conditions during 20 years of grazed grass and arable cropping. Grassland Research Institute, Hurley. Technical Report No. 21.Google Scholar
Graham, T. W. G., Webb, A. A. & Waring, S. A. (1981). Soil nitrogen status and pasture productivity after clearing of brigalow (Acacia harpophylla). Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 21, 109–118.Google Scholar
Henzell, E. F. (1968). Sources of nitrogen for Queensland pastures. Tropical Grasslands 2, 1–17.Google Scholar
Hoogerkamp, M. (1965). The influence of organic matter in soil on grassland productivity. Grassland Research Institute, Hurley. Technical Report No. 1, pp. 32–34.Google Scholar
Joulie, H. (1882). On permanent and temporary meadows and pastures, and their functions in the economy of agricultural practice. Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society 18, 195–222.Google Scholar
Little, D. A. (1972). Studies on cattle with oesophageal fistulae. The relation of the chemical composition of the feed to that of the extruded bolus. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 12, 126–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, D. A. (1975). Studies on cattle with oesophageal fistulae: comparison of concentrations of mineral nutrients in feeds and associated boluses. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 15, 437–439.Google Scholar
McGill, W. B. & Cole, C. V. (1981). Comparative aspects of cycling of organic C, N, S and P through soil organic matter. Geoderma 26, 267–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollitt, R. (1947). The effect of age on the yielding capacity of leys cropped for grass drying. Journal of the British Grassland Society 2, 119–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rayment, G. E., Walker, B. & Keerati-Kasikorn, P. (1983). Sulfur in the agriculture of northern Australia. In Sulfur in south-east Asian and South Pacific Agriculture (ed. Blair, G. J. and Till, A. R.), pp. 228–250. Armidale, Australia: University of New England.Google Scholar
Robbins, G. B. (1984). Relationships between productivity and age since establishment of pastures of Panicum maximum var. trichoglume. Ph.D. thesis, University of Queensland.Google Scholar
Rudder, T. H., Burrow, H., Seifert, G. W. & Maynard, P. J. (1982). The effects of year of birth, dam age, breeding and dam reproductive efficiency on live weights and age at sale of commercially managed steers in central Queensland. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production 14, 281–284.Google Scholar
Scattini, W. J. (1984). Hay conservation for cattle on winter-grazed green panic (Panicum maximum var. trichoglume) pasture in south-eastern Queensland. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 24, 20–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. & Allcock, P. J. (1985). Influence of age and year of growth on the botanical composition and productivity of swards. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 105, 299–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stace, H. C. T., Hubble, G. D., Brewer, R., Northcote, K. H., Sleeman, J. R., Mulcahy, M. J. & Hallsworth, E. G. (1968). A Handbook of Australian Soils, Glenside, South Australia: Rellim Technical Publications.Google Scholar
Theron, J. J. & Haylett, D. G. (1953). The regeneration of soil humus under a grass ley. Empire Journal of Experimental Agriculture 21, 86–98.Google Scholar
Weston, E. J., Harbison, J., Leslie, J. K., Rosenthal, K. M. & Mayer, R. J. (1981). Assessment of the agricultural and pastoral potential of Queensland. Agricultural Branch Technical Report No. 27. Brisbane: Queensland Department of Primary Industries.Google Scholar
Weston, E. J., Nason, C. N. & Armstrong, R. D. H. (1975). Resources study and problem analysis for primary industries in the Condamine-Maranoa basin of southern Queensland. Queensland Journal of Agricultural and Animal Sciences 32, 1–192.Google Scholar