Effect of Spring-Summer Management Strategies on Forage Mass and Botanical Composition of Stockpiled Tall Fescue Used for Winter Grazing.

Winter grazing requires pastures that meet grazing animal requirements. Our objective was to determine how spring and summer pasture management influenced herbage mass and botanical composition of stockpiled tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.). Treatments included: TR1, pasture, steers grazed continuously (5 head ha^-1); TR2, hayfield, managed for hay production. Experiment was conducted in a grassland stablished in 2004 dedicated to hay production in spring and summer; stockpiled from August 1^st to early November, and grazed in fall and winter. From 2009 to 2012 the treatments were compared from May 1^st to August 1^st. Data were analyzed as a completely random design with three replications. Thirty pasture heights for herbage mass estimation were taken every two weeks using a plate meter along three regularly spaced transects within each 0.41 ha field. Every year four 0.07 m² ground level clip samples were taken monthly. Samples were processed for forage botanical composition, by manually separating grasses, legumes, forbs and senescent material (SM). Herbage mass was influenced by soil and weather conditions during stockpile but no differences were found between treatments. Proportion of grass in TR2 was greater than in TR1 (P<0.0006). An increased proportion of legumes (P<0.0001) and forbs (P<0.0006)were found in TR1. Proportion of SM was consistent between TR1 and TR2. Precipitation during stockpile influenced the amount of SM. Our research found that management strategies during spring and summer and weather during stockpile did not influence forage quantity but grazing increase the proportion of legumes and forbs and decrease the proportion of grass of stockpiled grasslands used for winter grazing.