Abstract

Rising platemeters are commonly used in Ireland and New Zealand for managing intensive pastures. To assess the applicability of a commercial rising platemeter operating with a microsonic sensor to estimate herbage mass with its own equation, the objectives were (i) to validate the original equation; (ii) to identify possible factors hampering its accuracy and precision; and (iii) to develop a new equation for heterogeneous swards. A comprehensive dataset (n = 1511) was compiled on the pastures of dairy farms. Compressed sward heights were measured by the rising platemeter. Herbage mass was harvested to determine reference herbage availability. The adequacy of estimating herbage mass was assessed using root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean bias. As the adequacy of the original equation was low, a new equation was developed using multiple regression models. The mean bias and the RMSE for the new equation were overall low with 201 kg dry matter/ha and 34.6%, but it tended to overestimate herbage availability at herbage mass < 500 kg dry matter/ha and underestimate it at >2500 kg dry matter/ha. Still, the newly developed equation for the microsonic sensor-based rising platemeter allows for accurate and precise estimation of available herbage mass on pastures.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.