Short-term ingestive behavior of cattle was measured for two tropical grasses with contrasting growth forms, centipedegrass (CG; strongly prostrated) and bahiagrass (BG; more erect). Bite dimensions, bite weight and intake rate of animals increased as herbage mass increased in both grasses, showing a steeper initial increase and an earlier and lower plateau in CG than in BG. The results show that strongly prostrated grasses should be grazed when herbage mass is close to the point where the intake response plateaus, in order to maximize both quantity and quality of intake.
As a laborsaving technique for weed control in a mountainous area in Japan, an integrated grazing system (IGS) for scattered small pastures has gathered attention recently. The objective was to estimate the loading doses of nitrate-N and ammonium-N in soils and agricultural water as result of this IGS approach compared with other land uses. As a result of time-course profiles of nitrate-N and ammonium-N in surface soils, the effect of applied fertilizers was emphasized more than the effect of manure produced by grazing animals. The nitrate concentrations of under-drainage from pasture were the same or lower than those of agricultural water below a vegetable field during grazing periods. It was considered that the IGS was at least the same or had a lower impact on N levels than that of vegetable fields.
Spectral measurement was applied to monitor degradation of steppe grassland in Inner Mongolia, China. Supply of drinking water for domestic animal is an important for nomadic peoples in Xilingol steppe. There is only one main drinking place (site-00) for animals at the center of Branch No.4 of Baiyinkulun Livestock Farm. So the distance from the village (site-00) can be used as an effective indicator for grazing intensity since the water tank in the village is the main drinking place for animals. In addition to the measurement of surface reflectance, vegetation surveys were carried out as a function of the distance from site-00 at every 1-㎞ interval to each four directions until the 5-㎞ point. It has cleared that the effects of grazing on vegetation mitigated according to the distance from site-00. Negative plant indicators of grazing intensity such as Stipa grandis increased in dominance with distance from site-00, whereas positive indicators of grazing intensity, such as Cleistogenens squarrosa decreased. Changes in growth parameters along the environmental gradients were reflected on NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), in which NDVI was positively correlated with the aboveground biomass (r=0.77), plant height (r=0.69) and coverage (r=0.89), respectively. These results suggested that a spectral vegetation index is effective for the detection of the degradation in free grazing grassland.
We investigated the differences in survival rates and height growth among 10 sprouting tree species under cattle grazing conditions in a clearcut area of a secondary forest, as well as the relationship between survival and growth and the species' leaf tannin contents. A clearcut area of a deciduous broad-leaved secondary forest was grazed by two breeding cattle from 1990 until 2001. The height and viability of marked sprouting trees in the area were monitored annually before the initial spring grazing period for 12 years. The tannin contents in leaves were measured from 1996 until 1998. The target tree species differed greatly in the patterns of survival and height growth and were classified into four categories based on these patterns. Similarly, tannin contents in leaves varied widely (1.3% to 11.6%) among the species. Survival rates of the target species in 2001 correlated significantly with the tannin contents in leaves. Our findings indicate that tannin content in leaves is an influential factor affecting the survival and growth of sprouting trees under cattle grazing conditions.
Walking distance and eating time of Holstein (HF) and Brown-Swiss (BS) cows on the temperate pasture were measured on two dairy farms (A and B) in June, August and October to compare the foraging activity using Global Positioning System (GPS) device and voice recorder. The cows on A farm were supplemented concentrate and com silage about 43% of daily dry matter intake and the cows on B farm were supplemented concentrate about 23% of daily dry matter intake. The cows in both farms were grazed in daytime and night except for October in the A farm when the cows were kept in the bam during the night. There was no significant difference in walking distance between HF and BS in the A farm, however the walking distance of BS tended to be longer than HF in the B farm. Eating and ruminating time of the cows in the A farm did not differ between HF and BS. However, eating time of the cows in the B farm was higher in BS than in HF. These results suggest that foraging activity of dairy cows on the temperate pasture differ between HF and BS, and is also affected by amount of supplement.
In southern Kyushu, dwarf variety of late-heading type (DL) napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) has utilized for the rotational grazing in 4 months of hot summer period by Japanese-Black (JB) beef cows for 6 years in 2002-2007. The objectives of this study were to investigate the establishment of feeding system of DL napiergrass with Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam., IR) grazed by the standard herd of JB beef cows in breeding beef farmers. Grazing DL napiergrass pasture was established totally at 0.66 ㏊ with 5 paddocks (0.132 ㏊ each) in 2006. Oversowing of IR was imposed into the inter-row of DL napiergrass on December 8, 2007. Grazing for IR and DL napiergrass pastures was carried out in 30 and 71 days, respectively. Daily gain of beef cows for the grazing on DL napiergrass was averaged at 0.23 ㎏ head?¹ day?¹, and carrying capacity was calculated at 891 CD ㏊?¹. The results revealed that DL napiergrass with IR pasture should fit to the rotational grazing with maintaining the liveweight of grazing beef cows for 4.5 months, and it can be proposed for the sustainable and low-cost feeding system to smallholder farmers in this area.
As a solution for the utilization of abandoned arable land, Japanese lawngrass (JL) can be used for grazing. To utilize JL for "integrated grazing system for scattered small pasture", the management practices for rotational grazing on JL pasture have to be investigated in detail. We investigated the number of ears in the two pastures with sward height of 5 ㎝ (LS pasture) and 10 ㎝ (HS pasture) at the end of each rotational grazing period. The number of ears at the start of the first grazing of the year at May in LS pasture was more than that in HS pasture. It was suggested that low sward height relate to the decrease in the reserved nutrients for floral differentiation and ear emergence, because the number of ears at the start of the first grazing of the year was affected by the reserved nutrients in the previous year. The number of ears at the start of the second grazing at July in HS pasture was more than that in LS pasture significantly and the ears observed at the start of the second grazing might have emerged after the first grazing. These suggest that the number of young panicles which was not eaten by cattle was more in HS pasture than LS pasture. For the establishment of JL pasture, high sward height in spring might enable us to enlarge JL coverage. In the established pasture, low sward height might enable us to suppress the nutrients and energy consumption by earing.
This study was carried out to find out the effect of establishment or renovation of organic pasture by hoof and tooth cultivation with Korean native goat. This study was conducted from August, 2005 to the end of growing season in 2008 at test field of RDA in Cheonan. Experiment design composed with 4 treatment : Standard(Control, T1), Grazing after application cattle manure(T2), Application cattle manure after grazing(T3), Application cattle manure at half of grazing(T4).
This experiment was conducted to compare forage production and grass intakes of warm season grasses for grazing horses in Jeju. The experimental field located at 450m altitude(Jeju Horse Training Center of Korea Racing Association) was divided into 3different treatment plots(3replications) without a fence between treatments, and sown by three treatments(bermudagrass, bahiagrass, bermudagrass+bahiagrass mixture). Three castrated adult horse a were kept on pasture from the 1 of October to the end of October without supplementary concentrates. 'Bahiagrass' cultivar showed the highest dry matter (DM) yield with 8,887㎏/㏊ than those in other treatments (bermudagrass 8,699, bermudagrass+bahiagrass mixture 8,385㎏/㏊). The percentage of grass intakes was higher in the treatment of bahiagrass(92%) than those in other treatments(bermudagrass+bahiagrass mixture 89, bermudagrass78%). The results indicate that the warm season grasses of bermudagrass, bahiagrass, bermudagrass+bahiagrass mixture can be used for grazing pasture of horses in the Jeju.
Ingestion of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) presents a major challenge to mammalian herbivores. We investigated the relationship between PSM concentrations in the diet and feeding patterns in sheep fed diet containing flavone extracted from Apocynum venetum. Results showed that the flavone concentrations significantly influenced food intake by sheep. With the concentration of flavone in diet increase, sheep can regulate their intake of PSM within limits that are tolerable.
A total of 106 two month-old Nanjiang yellow goats (male were 32, female were 34 and castrated were 40) were divided into treatment group and control group to determine the growth performance. The treatment group was reared in grazing mode, experimental group was pastured with supplement feeding. The results showed that the body weight of male in experiment group was heavier by 9.82%(P<0.05), 11.87%(P<0.01), 16.91%(P<0.01) and 23.99%(P<0.05) than that in control group in 3,4,5 and 6 month-age. The body weight of female in experimental group was heavier by 11.54%(P<0.05), 13.79%(P<0.01), 17.47%(P<0.01) and 21.15%(P<0.01) than that in control group in 3,4,5 and 6 month-old. The body weight of castrator in experimental group was heavier by 1.58%, 1.99%, 13.08%(P<0.01) and 15.76%(P<0.01) than that in control group in 3,4,5 and 6 month-age. The daily increasing weight and body measurements of experimental group is improved more than control group, especially in 6 month-age.
An in vitro study was conducted to investigate the effect of propionate precursor (malate or fumarate) on fermentation characteristics, production of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and methane (CH₄) by rumen microbes when incubated with linoleic acid (C18:2) as a CLA precursor. Total CH₄ production for 12h incubation, however, was greatly reduced (P<0.0001) by all the supplements compared to that of control, and its production from M-LA or F-LA treatment was smaller than that from LA treatment. Supplementation of M-LA or F-LA also increased concentrations of cis9, trans11-CLA (P<0.039 - P<0.001) for all incubation times and trans10,cis 12-CLA at 1h (P<0.013), 3h(P<0.036) and 12h (P<0.025) incubation times compared to LA supplementation.
Through the analysis of several blood paramiters (indexes) that were closely related to feed (daily ration) conversion of beef cattle, the results showed that the content of INS(Insulin), TAA(Total amino acid), LAA(Limiting amino acid)and GH(Growth hormone) in the blood would reach the maximum when if the addition of Allium sativum ranged from 66g/headㆍday to 84g/headㆍday and Akkuyn sadtium ranged from 0.3g/headㆍday to 0.4g/headㆍday.
In resent year there has been research on benefits of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for human health. The effect of a fat supplement made from seaweeds meal plus palm olein meal (FS) and replacement of concentrate on milk production, and milk fatty acid (FA) profiles of dairy cows fed grass silage based diets was evaluated. Ten Holstein lactating cows were divided into a two groups. The cows in a group were fed concentrate at 40% on TDN basis (control). The cows in another group (Treatment) were supplemented 0.5㎏/day/cow of FS as a substitute for 2㎏/day/cow of concentrate. The medium chain fatty acids and DHA content of FS were 345 ㎎/g DM and 35 ㎎/g DM, respectively. Total DMI, DM digestibility and milk production as well as milk composition did not differ between the two groups. The intake of ether extract was higher (P<0.01) in Treatment than control group (1.1 ㎏/day/cow vs. 1.3 ㎏/day/cow). The short and medium chain of FA in the milk did not differ between two groups. The trans11C18:1vaccenic acid, cis9trans11CLA and C18:3 concentrations in the milk were higher (P<0.01) in Treatment than control group(1.88 g/100gFA vs. 1.03 g/100gFA, 0.93 g/100gFA vs. 0.51 g/100gFA and 0.48 g/100gFA vs. 0.48 g/100gFA). However, the C18:2 concentration in the milk was lower (P<0.05) in Treatment than Control group (1.38 g/100gFA vs.1.17 g/100gFA). There were detected 0.13 g/100gFA of DHA in the milk in Treatment group. Results indicated that addition of the FS has the potential of increasing CLA and DHA in cow's milk.
Beef marbling is known as one of the most important beef-quality traits in Korea. It is likely that marbling derived from fatty acids, mainly propionate, is mediated by rumen. Recently micro-agents were studied to enhance marbling, although many parts of that were digested in rumen. Therefore, this study was conducted to screen candidate materials to effect on beef quality with in vitro ruminal incubation. The materials such as saponin, chitosan, Zn compounds (4), vitamin C sources (2), Korean herb cocktail and garlic sources (2) were added to rumen fluid to 1.25% of substrate volume at 0 and 24 h incubation time. Total gas production in intact vitamin C source increased but that in all Zn compounds decreased (P<0.05). Total gas production in Zn sulfate compound less decreased than in other Zn sources. Propionate in Zn sulfate increased than the other candidate compounds at all incubation time (P<0.05). Experiment two was conducted to clarified effect of additives such as vitamin C sources (2), garlic lyophilized, Korea herb cocktail and Zn sulfate were supplemented with 2.5% volume at the 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h incubation time. Total gas in Zn sulfate was lower than any other treatments. Propionate in garlic, herb and Zn sulfate appeared to be lower than control and vitamin C sources at all incubation time, although significant difference was not observed in total VFA among control and all treatment. This study suggested that micro-agent might be used to improve beef quality with minute level.
This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of varieties and quality of winter crop on palatability of calves for two years. Four Italian ryegrass variety(Kospeed, Kogreen, Kowinearly and Hwasan 101ho), two barley(Youngyang, Yuyeon), and a rye (Winter green) were cultivated at experimental field of National Institute of Animal Science, Cheonan. Four early varieties(Kospeed, Kogreen, Kowinearly and Winter green)were harvested at 20th Dry matter yield of "Hwasan 101 ho" was l8,629㎏/㏊(12,141 + 6,488) and Yeongyang, Youyeon and Winter green were 14,182, 12,487 and 10,935㎏/ha, respectively. Moisture content of Hwasan 101 ho was 81.5% in harvesting time, but wilting for 24 hours might bedecrease moisture content by 65.5%. The relative intake of Hwasan 101 ho, Kowinearly, Kospeed and Kogreen were 34.5, 60, 19.8, 15.7%, respectively. Among forage crop species, relative intake of Italian ryegrass(Hwasan 101 ho), barley(Yeongyang and Youyeon), and Rye(Winter green) were 43.1, 20.9, 20.5 and 15.5%, respectively.
The objective of this experiment was to evaluate growth performance in dairy goats (Saanen) fed total mixed ration (TMR) of different nutrition levels. Twenty four growing female goats of 8 months of age were randomly assigned to one of four TMRs; low energy-low crude protein (CP) TMR (control), high energy-low CP TMR (T1), low energy-high CP TMR (T3) and high energy-high CP TMR (T4). The content of total digestible nutrients (TDN) and CP in the control diet were 64% and 12%. The TDN content of the high energy TMR was 72% and the CP content of the high CP TMR was 14%. Feed intakes were 1,194g, 1,060g and 1,124g for T1, T2 and T3, respectively, being higher than control (1,039g). Average daily gain was also numerically higher for T1 (170.2g), T2 (114.5g) and T3 (154.9g) than for control (109.0g). The difference of average daily gain between T1 and control was statistically significant (P<0.05). Although there were no significant differences in feed intake (% of body weight) between treatments, feed conversion ratios showed different responses; T1 (7.01) and T3 (7.26) being higher than T2 (9.26) and control (9.53). The increases of heart girth were 11.8㎝, 10.0㎝ and 11.4㎝ for T1, T2 and T3, respectively, being higher than control (8.1㎝).
Ten cpSSR markers were used to detected genetic diversity and relationship among fourteen species of Caragana. The genetic diversity was 0.860 to 2.138, with an average of 1.258. The effective number of alleles for each cpSSR locus ranged from 2.051to 7.407, with an average of 3.530.Ten cpSSR primers detected totally 92 polymorphic loci, the value of allelic polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.512 to 0.865, on an average, 0.671 per primer. The value of genetic similarity (GS) indexes among fourteen species of Caragana varied from 0.51 to 0.93, on an average of 0.77. These indicated that the genetic diversity at the genomic level of the selected source germplasm was rich, and was representative of the diversity of the germplasms, in general. Cluster analysis showed that fourteen Species of Caragana tested in this study could be clustered into four groups, cpSSR analyzed inter-genetic relationship was almost consistent with traditional morphologic result.