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Abstract
Simple SummaryFeed intake and the digestibility of that feed are key drivers of animal production from grazed forage. This study compared the digestibility and voluntary dry matter (DM) intake of grass-only and grass-white clover (grass-clover) forage in individually housed sheep. The study was a Latin square design, repeated in spring, summer and autumn in 2017. Grass-clover and grass-only forage was harvested daily and offered ad libitum to 6 individually housed wether sheep per treatment. Digestibility of the forage DM, organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) was determined using the total faecal collection method. Dry matter intake was similar on both forage types. White clover inclusion increased forage crude protein concentration in autumn and reduced NDF concentration in the offered forage, resulting in increased nitrogen intake in autumn and reduced NDF intake in all seasons. Grass-clover swards had a significantly greater OM and DM digestibility compared to grass-only swards. This could potentially result in increased animal production from grass-clover swards compared to grass-only swards.Intake and digestibility are key drivers of animal production from grazed forage. The objective of this study was to compare the in vivo digestibility and voluntary dry matter (DM) intake of grass-only and grass-white clover (grass-clover) forage in individually housed sheep. This study was a Latin square design, repeated on three occasions in 2017: Spring (27 March–29 April), summer (19 June–22 July) and autumn (4 September–29 September). Grass-clover and grass-only swards were harvested daily and offered ad libitum to 6 individually housed wether sheep per treatment per period. Digestibility of DM, organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) were determined using the total faecal collection method. Dry matter intake was not significantly different between treatments. White clover inclusion increased forage crude protein concentration in autumn (p < 0.001) and reduced NDF concentration in the offered forage (p < 0.001), increasing nitrogen intake per sheep in autumn (p < 0.001) and decreasing NDF intake per sheep in autumn (p < 0.001). Grass-clover swards had a significantly greater OM and DM digestibility compared to grass-only swards (p < 0.05). This could potentially result in increased animal production from grass-clover swards compared to grass-only swards.
Highlights
Pasture is the primary and lowest-cost source of ruminant feed in temperate pasturebased systems [1,2,3]
It is believed that a combination of improved nutritive value and increased DM intake (DMI) from grasswhite clover swards compared to grass-only swards results in increased milk production performance in dairy cows [9,17,18]
This study showed a 4% and 3% increase in organic matter digestibility (OMD), increasing sheep DMI by 10 and 280 g per day in summer and autumn, respectively, on the grass-clover sward compared to the grass-only sward
Summary
Pasture is the primary and lowest-cost source of ruminant feed in temperate pasturebased systems [1,2,3]. In Ireland, approximately 84% and 82% of the diet, on a dry matter (DM) basis, of Irish sheep and dairy cows in intensive grazing systems, respectively, comes from pasture [4,5]. The incorporation of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) into intensive pasture-based production systems provides many advantages in terms of feed value and animal performance, and can potentially contribute to improving the sustainability of pasture-based ruminant production systems [13,14]. It is believed that a combination of improved nutritive value and increased DMI from grasswhite clover (grass-clover) swards compared to grass-only swards results in increased milk production performance in dairy cows [9,17,18]
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