113-9 Reducing N Inputs in Grazing Systems By Introducing Rhizoma Peanut.
See more from this Division: C06 Forage and Grazinglands
See more from this Session: Forage and Grazinglands Oral I
Monday, November 7, 2016: 3:45 PM
Phoenix Convention Center North, Room 225 A
Abstract:
Nitrogen fertilizer increases carbon footprint of livestock systems. Forage legumes are a possible alternative to replace N fertilizers. Rhizoma peanut - RP (Arachis glabrata Benth.) is one of the few warm-season perennial legumes that have demonstrated persistence under a range of grazing conditions. This research evaluated the potential benefits of including RP in livestock-forage systems in North Florida. The experiment was conducted from July to October of 2015 and will be repeated in 2016. Treatments consisted of three livestock production systems as follows: 1) Argentine bahiagrass fertilized with 113 kg of N ha-1 (BHF); 2) unfertilized Argentine bahiagrass (BH); 3) Strip-planted Ecoturf rhizoma peanut mixed with Argentine bahiagrass (BHR). Treatments were replicated in three blocks in a randomized complete block design. Pastures were continuously grazed using a variable stocking rate. No treatment × evaluation period (P = 0.52), or treatment effect (P = 0.06) were found for herbage allowance. Treatment x evaluation period effects were observed for ADG (P = 0.05) and herbage mass (P = 0.02). Stocking rate and gain per area did not differ among treatments (P > 0.05). Season ADG was 0.33, 0.22, and 0.16 kg head-1 d-1 for BHR, BHF, and BH, respectively. Fecal δ13C indicated that an average of 72% of C found in the feces of cattle grazing RP paddocks were from C3 species. Fecal N concentration was greater from samples collected from cattle grazing RP (22.8 g N kg-1) than cattle grazing BH (17.7 g N kg-1). Greater proportion of C3 species in the diet of cattle grazing RP was also reflected in plasma and red blood cells using δ13C. Including RP strip-planted into bahiagrass pastures allowed reduction of N fertilization and maintained livestock gain per area when compared to systems without legumes, whether fertilized or not with nitrogen.
Keywords: Rhizoma peanut, N fertilizer, beef cattle.
See more from this Division: C06 Forage and Grazinglands
See more from this Session: Forage and Grazinglands Oral I
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