Grazing Persist Orchardgrass

1. Grazing Persist Orchardgrass John C. Waller Associate Professor Animal Science University of Tennessee

2. Pasture Systems at Ames Plantation • Each forage has three 3-acre pastures • Forage Treatments: • Persist Orchardgrass • Persist Orchardgrass with white clover • Kentucky-31 Tall Fescue – Endophyte infected (E+) • Jesup MaxQ Tall Fescue • All pastures were fertilized in Sept and allowed to stockpile growth until grazing was initiated.

3. Steers Grazing Pasture Systems at Ames Plantation • All steers were weaned for 30 to 45 d prior to start of grazing • Stocking rate was 5 steers/3-acre pasture • Steers were weighed in early morning on 21 day intervals • Grazing seasons: • Fall/Winter – Dec 17, 2003 to Mar 10, 2004 • Spring – Mar 10, 2004 to June 23, 2004

4. Animal Weights Forage TreatmentInitial Weight Persist 591 lb Persist + Clover 596 lb Ky-31 Fescue E+ 590 lb Jesup MaxQ 595 lb

5. Animal Weights Forage TreatmentFinal Weight Persist 788 lb Persist + Clover 800 lb Ky-31 Fescue E+ 769 lb Jesup MaxQ 819 lb

6. Weight Gain/Animal Forage TreatmentTotal Weight Gain Persist 197 lb Persist + Clover 204 lb Ky-31 Fescue E+ 179 lb Jesup MaxQ 219 lb

7. Steer Average Daily Gain Forage TreatmentFall/winter ADG Persist 0.88 lb Persist + Clover 0.81 lb Ky-31 Fescue E+ 1.19 lb Jesup MaxQ 1.16 lb

8. Steer Average Daily Gain Forage TreatmentSpring ADG Persist 1.18 lb Persist + Clover 1.33 lb Ky-31 Fescue E+ 0.75 lb Jesup MaxQ 1.21 lb

9. Steer Average Daily Gain Forage TreatmentTotal ADG Persist 1.05 lb Persist + Clover 1.10 lb Ky-31 Fescue E+ 0.95 lb Jesup MaxQ 1.18 lb