Table 2.
Herbage mass, botanical composition and nutritive value of pastures containing ryegrass and white clover (RGWC) or with a low (PLL) or high (PLH) proportion of plantain.
| Variable 1 | RGWC | PLL | PLH | SEM | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herbage mass | |||||
| Pregrazing mass (kg DM/ha) | 2815 | 2784 | 2745 | 62 | 0.725 |
| Postgrazing mass (kg DM/ha) | 1551 | 1425 | 1358 | 61 | 0.096 |
| Allocation area (m2/cow/d) | 130 | 130 | 130 | - | - |
| DM allocation (kg/cow/d) | 30.0 | 29.7 | 29.3 | 0.66 | 0.701 |
| Botanical composition | |||||
| Plantain (g/kg DM) | - | 243 a | 342 b | 17 | <0.001 |
| Perennial ryegrass (g/kg DM) | 611 a | 380 b | 305 c | 21 | <0.001 |
| White clover (g/kg DM) | 236 | 266 | 249 | 16 | 0.409 |
| Dead material (g/kg DM) | 145 a | 107 b | 103 b | 7.9 | 0.001 |
| Nutritive value | |||||
| Dry matter (%) | 20.4 a | 17.6 b | 16.3 c | 0.25 | <0.001 |
| OM (%) | 86.8 | 85.6 | 84.9 | 0.33 | 0.004 |
| Crude fat (g/kg DM) | 35 a | 29 b | 29 b | 0.7 | <0.001 |
| Crude protein (g/kg DM) | 231 | 232 | 234 | 5.1 | 0.889 |
| ADF (g/kg DM) | 268 | 255 | 254 | 4.3 | 0.060 |
| NDF (g/kg DM) | 484 a | 441 b | 424 b | 8.0 | <0.001 |
| NSC (g/kg DM) | 124 a | 154 b | 162 b | 8.0 | 0.008 |
| OM digestibility (g/kg DM) | 719 | 718 | 722 | 7.8 | 0.919 |
| ME (MJ/kg DM) | 10.0 | 9.8 | 9.8 | 0.12 | 0.418 |
| Na (g/kg DM) | 4.9 a | 5.9 b | 6.5 b | 0.31 | 0.004 |
| K (g/kg DM) | 26 a | 28 ab | 30 c | 0.90 | 0.011 |
| Ca (g/kg DM) | 8.4 a | 14.0 b | 15.8 c | 0.52 | <0.001 |
| S (g/kg DM) | 13 a | 17 b | 19 b | 0.7 | <0.001 |
| Aucubin (g/kg DM) | 0.18 a | 2.68 b | 4.58 c | 0.34 | <0.001 |
| Acteoside (g/kg DM) | 0.29 a | 6.77 b | 10.86 c | 0.71 | <0.001 |
a,b,c Mean values in the same row with different superscripts differ (p < 0.05). 1 ADF = acid detergent fibre; DM = dry matter; NDF neutral detergent fibre; NSC = nonstructural carbohydrates; ME = metabolisable energy; OM = organic matters; SEM = standard error of the mean.