Crabgrass as an equine pasture forage: impact of establishment method on yield, nutrient composition, and horse preference.
Abstract: Warm-season grasses (WSG) incorporated into traditional cool-season rotational grazing systems to increase summer yields are typically established in monoculture in separate pasture areas. Few studies have evaluated alternative interseeded establishment of WSG, despite potential benefits for improving biodiversity and land-use efficiency. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of establishment method (monoculture vs. interseeded) on crabgrass pasture forage yield, nutritive value, and preference under equine grazing. Three adult standardbred mares grazed two main plots on two consecutive days (8 hr/d) for three grazing events in 2019: Jul 28/29 (GRAZE 1), Aug 20/30 (GRAZE 2), Oct 1/2 (GRAZE 3). Each main plot contained four replicates of three treatments: mixed cool-season grass (CSG); Quick-N-Big crabgrass (CRB) [ (L.) Scop.] interseeded into existing cool-season grass (INT), and CRB established as a monoculture (MON). The cool-season grass mix included orchardgrass [ (L.)], tall fescue [ (Schreb.) Darbysh.], and Kentucky bluegrass [ (L.)]. Herbage mass (HM) and sward height (SH) were measured prior to each grazing event and samples were collected (0800-1000 h) for chemical composition analysis. Observed grazing time (GT) in each sub-plot as determined by 5-min scan sampling was utilized as marker of horse preference. Forage HM was greater in MON (8043 ± 1220 kg/ha) than CSG (5001 ± 1308 kg/ha; = 0.003), with a trend for greater total HM in MON vs. INT (6582 ± 1220 kg/ha: = 0.06), but HM did not differ between INT and CSG. The SH was also greatest for MON (28 ± 1.11; INT: 23.6 ± 1.11; CSG: 19.7 ± 1.37 cm; 0.003). Forage nutrients (digestible energy and crude protein) were largely similar across treatments and met requirements of horses at maintenance. Horse GT was lower in MON (22.6 ± 3.77 min/sub-plot) than in INT (31.9 ± 3.79 min/sub-plot; = 0.003) and there was a trend for lower GT in MON vs. CSG (29.9 ± 4.17 min/sub-plot: 0.07). These results indicate interseeding CRB would not effectively increase yields of traditional cool-season grass equine rotational grazing systems and would not supply similar levels of summer forage provided by monoculture establishment. Results of this study also suggest horses may prefer cool-season grass pasture forage over warm-season crabgrass.
Publication Date: PubMed ID: 35663614
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Summary
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The research study is about crabgrass as a potential feed for horses. It assesses the yield, nutrition and preference of horses when crabgrass is established by itself or interseeded with cool-season grass.
Study Design and Methodology
- The study investigated the impact of different crabgrass establishment methods – specifically, monoculture versus interseeding – on yield, nutritive value, and horse preference.
- Researchers conducted this study with three adult Standardbred mares that grazed two main plots in three events throughout the year 2019.
- Each of the main plots contained different grazing areas: one with a mix of cool-season grass, one where crabgrass was interseeded into cool-season grass, and one where crabgrass was planted as a monoculture.
- The grass yield (herbage mass (HM) and sward height (SH)), was measured and samples were collected for chemical composition analysis before each grazing event.
- The researchers also monitored and recorded the time horses spent grazing (grazing time (GT)) on each plot as an indicator of the horses’ preference.
Results and Findings
- Results showed that the yield of forage was highest when crabgrass was established as monoculture.
- The sward height was also found to be greatest in the crabgrass monoculture plots.
- However, when assessing equine preference, horses tended to graze less in the monoculture crabgrass plots compared to the interseeded plots or the cool-season grass plots.
- The study also found that the nutrient content, including digestible energy and crude protein, was largely similar across all treatments and met the requirements of horses at maintenance.
Conclusions
- Although the monoculture crabgrass demonstrated higher yield, horses showed a lower preference for grazing on it.
- Additionally, interseeding crabgrass did not significantly increase yields of traditional cool-season grass grazing systems, nor did it provide similar levels of summer forage compared to monoculture establishment.
- The study concludes that horses might prefer cool-season grass over warm-season crabgrass for forage, and also suggests that interseeding crabgrass does not necessarily lead to effective increases in yield.
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Crabgrass as an equine pasture forage: impact of establishment method on yield, nutrient composition, and horse preference.
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Citations
This article has been cited 1 times.- Minoji K, Sakai T. A chromosome-scale genome assembly of Timorese crabgrass (Digitaria radicosa): a useful genomic resource for the Poaceae. G3 (Bethesda) 2024 Oct 10;14(12).
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