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Comparing within paddock yield variability of perennial ryegrass monocultures and perennial ryegrass, white clover and plantain mixtures using yield mapping
Citation
McLaren, DK and Pembleton, KG, Comparing within paddock yield variability of perennial ryegrass monocultures and perennial ryegrass, white clover and plantain mixtures using yield mapping, Proceedings of the 17th Australian Society of Agronomy Conference, 20-24 September 2015, Hobart, Australia, pp. 1-4. (2015) [Refereed Conference Paper]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 the author
Official URL: http://www.agronomyaustralia.org/
Abstract
Diverse mixtures of pasture species have greater potential for exploiting niches within a paddock compared
to monocultures resulting in less variability in pasture growth within the paddock. It is unknown if the
variability occurs at a scale that is relevant in intensively managed dairy systems. This study assessed the
variability in pasture biomass within 6 split paddocks sown to either perennial ryegrass monocultures (PRG)
or perennial ryegrass, white clover and plantain mixtures (RCPM) on a dairy farm in north-west Tasmania.
The biomass present in each area was mapped immediately prior to grazing in the spring of 2014 and autumn
2015 using a C-Dax pasture meter with a GPS console. Data was interpreted through the Manifold GIS
software before being analysed in the R statistical package. There were no significant difference in pasture
biomass between the PRG and RCPM treatments, with mean pasture biomass of 2997 and 3162 kg DM/ha
respectively. The variation in pasture biomass within each area (as assessed by the co-efficient of variation)
was greater in the PRG areas (16.6%) than in the RCPM areas (13.4%). The overall difference between the
within plot standard deviation and coefficient of variation for the treatments was small at 65 kg DM/ha and
3.2% respectively. Diverse pastures have increased opportunities to exploit niches existing within dairy
paddocks relating to soil diversity. This and other studies suggest that exploitation of niches only has a small
impact upon within paddock yield variability.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | pasture mixtures, yield mapping, niche exploitation |
| Research Division: | Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences |
| Research Group: | Crop and pasture production |
| Research Field: | Agronomy |
| Objective Division: | Animal Production and Animal Primary Products |
| Objective Group: | Pasture, browse and fodder crops |
| Objective Field: | Sown pastures (excl. lucerne) |
| UTAS Author: | McLaren, DK (Mr David McLaren) |
| UTAS Author: | Pembleton, KG (Dr Keith Pembleton) |
| ID Code: | 103538 |
| Year Published: | 2015 |
| Deposited By: | Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture |
| Deposited On: | 2015-10-15 |
| Last Modified: | 2016-05-09 |
| Downloads: | 313 View Download Statistics |
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