Effects of Grazing System on Performance of Cow-Calf Pairs Grazing Bermudagrass Pastures Interseeded with Wheat and Legumes11Contribution No. 00-310-J from the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station.

Abstract

Abstract A total of 96 fall-calving cows and 64 calves grazed Hardie bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] interseeded with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), ladino white clover (Trifolium repens L.), and lespedeza (Lespedeza stipulacea Maxim.) during 1996, 1997, and 1998 in either a continuous or a rotational system stocked at equal rates. Grazing of wheat was initiated in early spring with cows and calves and terminated in late summer with cows grazing bermudagrass. Rotationally grazed units were subdivided into eight paddocks that were grazed for 3.5-d (1996 and 1997) or 2-d intervals (1998). Residual forage was removed as hay in late July each year and credited to the corresponding grazing system. Legume cover, available forage DM, residual hay production, gains of cows and calves grazing wheat, and gains of cows grazing bermudagrass interseeded with legumes were measured. Grazing system had no effect (P>0.05) on legume cover, available forage DM, BW gains of cows and calves grazing wheat, or BW gains of cows grazing bermudagrass interseeded with legumes. However, rotationally grazed pastures produced more (P