Pasture formation and management are crucial to avoid yield reduction. This experiment aimed to examine the effects of tall fescue-centered mixed-seeding combinations on yield and vegetation changes in perennial pastures in the central region for two years, from September 2020 to October 2022. The treatments were arranged in three replications in a randomized block design: control (C), tall fescue-based mixture-1 (T-1), and tall fescue-based mixture-2 (T-2). The tall fescue (TF), orchard grass (OG), perennial ryegrass (PRG), Kentucky bluegrass (KBG), and white clover (WC) were used. The emergency rate of grasses (70.0 to 73.3%) did not differ among mixed seeding combinations. Overwintering rates (81.7 to 83.3%) were similar among treatments. The plant height of grasses was similar at each harvest date, with the highest height (86.2 cm) recorded in the second harvest of the first year, followed by that (58.4 cm) in the third harvest of the first year; it was least (38.9 cm) in the fourth harvest of the second year. There was no significant difference in the dry matter yield of grasses among the mixed seeding combination treatments in the first, third, or fourth harvests of the first year (p>0.05). For second-year grasses, dry matter yield was not significantly different in harvest date among the treatments (p>0.05). Based on mixed seeding ratio, orchard grass showed the highest yield at 70% in the C treatment, followed by tall fescue at 80% and 60% in the T-1 and T-2 treatments, respectively, in the first harvest after seeding. There was no significant difference in feed value between treatments (p>0.05), but a significant difference was observed between the third and fourth harvest (p<0.05). Therefore, it indicated that it is important to create perennial pastures in the central region through mixed seeding combinations centered on tall fescue.

It is widely known that forage corn is one of the most important crops in the production of silage and green chops during the summer months. In this study, the characteristics and the productivity of Kwangpyeongok, AGR 41, and Nero IT corn cultivars were evaluated in the regions of Jeju and Cheonan, Korea between 2021 and 2022. In each year, different corn cultivars were sown in different parts of the country on April 7 in Jeju and May 3 in Cheonan. The yield of three cultivars, Kwangpyeongok, AGR 41, and Nero IT were measured at the yellow-ripening stage, including the leaves and stems (Stover) and corn grain. Kwangpyeongok stover and total dry matter (DM) yields were slightly higher in Cheonan than in Jeju over the past two years. The quantity of corn cultivated in all cultivated areas was similar. The average yield of AGR 41, corn quantity and total DM were slightly higher in Jeju than in Cheonan. In terms of stover yield, and total dry matter content of the Nero IT cultivar cultivated in Jeju had a slightly higher yield than the cultivar cultivated in Cheonan. Based on this study, all cultivars can show some variations but not too much in terms of growth productivity and distinct characteristics depending on their location. Overall, AGR 41, and Nero IT cultivars in Jeju exhibit slightly higher levels of productivity than the same cultivars in Cheonan.

This experiment was carried out to examine double cropping system using Italian ryegrass (IRG) 'Kowinearly', whole crop rice 'Yeongwoo' and barnyard millet 'Jeju native' during the Oct. 2020 to Oct. 2022. Three kinds of forage crops were cultivated at paddy field in Livestock Institute, Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Jeollanamdo, South Korea. Whole crop rice (WCR) was sown in late May and barnyard millet (BM) sown early June each year after harvesting IRG. We examined dry matter yield and feed value of forage crops depending on harvest time of forage crops during the experimental period. The plant height in heading stage of IRG ranged from 108 to 112cm and dry matter yield ranged from 6,783 to 11,530 kg ha-1. The crude protein (CP) of IRG ranged from 6.0 to 8.44%, acid detergent fiber (ADF) ranged from 55.6 to 60.2% and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) ranged from 32.58 to 36.7%, The dry matter yield of WCR increased as the harvest stage was delayed (14,310 kg ha-1 in milk, 16,167 kg ha-1 in yellow ripen, and 18,891 kg ha-1 in mature). Similar to results of dry matter yield of WCR, dry matter yield of BM increased as the harvest stage was delayed (11,194 kg ha-1 in late heading. and 14,308 kg ha-1 in mature), However nutrient content of WCR and BM showed a decreasing trend. As shown in above results, the productivity of WCR after harvesting IRG was shown to be high at paddy field in the southern region. However, BM also was appeared to have potential as summer forage crops.

This experiment was carried out to determine effects of seed rate of native grasses, called native summer forage crops (NSFC), on their growth characteristics and yields in no-tillage paddy fields in central provinces. NSFC cultivation was performed according to the agricultural guidelines of the Rural Development Administration (RDA) during 2020 to 2022. Echinochloa crusgalli ‘Jeju native’, Setaria viridis ‘Korean native type’, Digitaria sanguinalis ‘Korean native type’) were sown by various seed rate in the experimental field (3m × 4m plot) of Department of Animal Resources Development, Seonghwan–eup, Cheonan, Korea in late-May or early-June for 3 years and harvested in middle-September. Dry matter yields (DMY) in Echinochloa crusgalli and Setaria viridis increased as increasing seed rate. DMY in 40 kg ha-1 of Echinochloa crusgalli was the highest and DMY in 60 kg ha-1 of Setaria viridis was the highest. However, All treatments of Digitaria sanguinalis showed similar DMY. Yields of NSFC were the order of Echinochloa crusgalli (9,681~11,092 kg ha-1) > Digitaria sanguinalis (8,311~9,023 kg ha-1) >etaria viridis (3,145~4,749 kg ha-1). The contents of crude protein in NSFC were the order of Digitaria sanguinalis > Echinochloa crusgalli > Setaria viridis. The contents of ADF and NDF in NSFC were the order of Echinochloa crusgalli > Digitaria sanguinalis > Setaria viridis. As shown in above results, we suggest that introduction of NSFC is one of the most important skills in order to stably increase yields of forage crops for utilization of the double cropping system in no-tillage paddy fields.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of waterlogging stress on the physiological response and growth characteristics of the five Italian ryegrass varieties. For all varieties, the germination rate of seed decreased by 10-15% as the waterlogging period increased, but the waterlogging stress treatment after the early seedling stage increased the growth of shoot and root length. Photosynthetic activity (Fv/Fm) according to waterlogging stress treatment decreased in all vareity, and Florida 80 showed the least decrease with 1.5%. Waterlogging stress treatment was found to reduce the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (malondialdehyde, MDA) and the activities of antioxidant enzymes. These results suggest that other mechanisms may be involved in the defense mechanism of Italian ryegrass against waterlogging stress, such as promoting root growth to escape from waterlogging stress, in addition to the antioxidant enzyme system.

Alfalfa is one of the most useful forage crops worldwide, containing a high level of amino acids that are essential to both human and animal health. However, amino acids and their concentrations may differ between plant parts. Hence, detecting amino acids in different plant parts would be useful in the development of diet supplements. The purpose of this study was to determine the amino acid content in alfalfa leaves, stems, and inflorescences using an amino acid analyzer. Asparagine and glutamic acid were the most abundant amino acids found in stems, leaves, and inflorescences than other amino acids. All parts of alfalfa had low concentrations of cysteine and methionine. All amino acids except asparagine were present in the highest concentration in leaves followed by inflorescences. Leaf had a rich amino acid content, namely asparagine, glutamic acid, leucine, proline, and lysine. However, the stem had a lower amino acid composition than the leaf or inflorescence. Overall, the data showed determining the amino acid content of forages provides a good approach to making animal feed with essential and specific amino acids and preventing excessive inclusion of amino acids.

This study was carried out to evaluate the growth characteristics and forage yield potential for warm season grass as emergency forages. The experimental design was a randomized block design (RBD) with three replications. Two barnyard millet (Echinochloa species cv. Shirohie and Jeju native), a pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum cv Feed milk 2) a proso millet (Panicum miliaceum cv Native), a teffgrass (Eragrostis tef cv. Tiffany) and a kleingrass (Panicum coloratum cv. Selection 75) were compared for forage production and quality at the Mid regions of Korea. Warm season forage crops were sown on May 21 and June 23 respectively, and in 2021, it was sown twice on May 21 and June 21 The number of days to seedling emergence for barnyard millet and teffgrass was observed approximately 10 and 3 days after seeding, respectively. The cultivation period from seeding to harvest was within 60 days for all entry spices except for the late-heading type barnyard millet (within 84 days). As for the dry matter yield by seeding date, the dry matter yield of the late-heading type barnyard millet in May seeding was the highest at 23,872 kg/ha, and the kleingrass was the lowest at 3,888 kg/ha. For the June seeding, the dry matter yield of the late-heading type barnyard millet was 17,032 kg/ha, the highest, and the proso millet, teffgrass and kleingrass showed the lowest at 5,468, 5,442, and 5,197 kg/ha, respectively. The crude protein (CP) content was varied by warm season grass species, but the early-heading type barnyard millet, teffgrass, and kleingrass showed the highest tendency, and the late-heading type barnyard millet showed the lowest at 5.7~5.9%. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) content did not show a significant difference between the seeding in May, but kleingrass in June sowed lower than the others.

This study was carried out the estimation on consumption patterns and consciousness of domestic forage for improvement of the quality of domestic forage. Although the cultivated area in South Korea of forage has increased significantly compared to the past, the self-sufficiency rate of domestic forage has increased to around 80% since 2010. Also, livestock farmers prefer to use import forage than domestic due to convenience of use. In Korean beef farms, the ratio of import to domestic forage was higher in domestic forage (import forage 3 : domestic forage 7). In the method of securing domestic forage, purchase of forage (55.6%) was higher than self-cultivation of forage (44.4%). The ratio of use by bailing type was shown in the order of rice staw rice straw (50.5%), domestic hay (15%), imported hay (12.5%), and total mixed ratio (10.7%). The preference of forage was in the order of amount of foreign matter, moisture content, price, feed value in Korean native cattle farm. The result of satisfaction with domestic and import forage showed that the satisfaction of domestic forage price was higher than import forage, while the moisture content and foreign matter of forage were lower than import forage. In addition, in the results of the satisfaction and importance of domestic roughage compared to imported roughage, satisfaction with imported roughage was generally high in all items except for price. As a result, in order to improve the satisfaction of domestic forage in Korean native cattle farm, it is necessary to minimize foreign matter in forage and increase hay production for moisture content uniform in forage.

This study was conducted to examine the dry matter yield and weed control of alfalfa according to postemergence herbicides treatment during spring seeding alfalfa. The seeding time of alfalfa was April 21, 2021, the seeding amount was 20 kg/ha, and the seeding method was by 20 cm wide. The alfalfa harvest was carried out at the early bloom stage (10% of flowering), and the harvest date was June 29, 2021. The test treatments were non herbicide (NH), hand weeding (HW), herbicide 1 (Trifluralin, H1), herbicide 2 (S-metolachlor, H2), herbicide 3 (Alachlor, H3), and herbicide 4 (Pendimethalin, H4). Alfalfa plant height was significantly highest in H2 (62.1±1.4 cm) followed by H3 (61.7±1.6 cm), HW (58.5±1.0 cm), H1 (57.2±1.3 cm), H4 (56.1±1.3 cm), and NH (54.1±1.2 cm) (p<0.05). Based on HW, H2 and H3 were high and H1 and H4 were short, but NH was significantly shorter than HW and H1~H4 (p<0.05). The dry matter yield of alfalfa in NH, HW, H1, H2, H3, and H4 were 717.2±94.2, 2,613.8±254.1, 1,667.8±94.1, 2,498.3±120.2, 2,435.0±118.3, and 1,793.7±354.3 kg/ha. HW is the highest among them (p<0.05). The feed composition of alfalfa was 22~24% of the dry matter yield, and the CP content were significantly higher in NH (23.6 %) (p<0.05). The NH had higher (p<0.05) NDF and ADF, but RFV was lower (p<0.05). The weed plant height was NH 98.0±3.3cm, HW 73.3±1.7 cm, H1 91.9±1.5 cm, H2 53.3±5.8 cm, H3 81.4±3.5 cm and H4 96.6±2.2 cm, and H2 was significantly smallest in the group (p<0.05). The weed dry matter yield was NH 4,770.4±232.5 kg/ha, HW 316.3±91.9 kg/ha, H1 2,353.4±173.7 kg/ha, H2 114.5±10.2 kg/ha, H3 752.7±440.6 kg/ha and H4 2,220.6±775.6 kg/ha. The weed control value was HW 94.1%, H1 53.5%, H2 98.2%, H3 84.9%, H4 48.7%, the weed value of H2 is similar to weed control value of HW. Considering the above results, postemergence herbicide treatment controlled weeds by more than 50% compared with no treatment, and among herbicides, H2 (S-metolachlor) was found to be on a similar level to hand weeding.

In the current study, lactic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Lactobacillus plantarum and Pediococcus pentosaceus were used as a mixed additive for the production of Orchardgrass silage by ensiled method and nutritional change fermentation ability and microbial content of experimental silages. The addition of LAB to Orchardgrass during ensiling process rapidly reduced the pH of the silages than the non-inoculated silages. In addition, the lactic and acetic acid content of silage was increased by LAB strains than the non-inoculated silages whereas butyric acid content was reduced in silage treated with LAB. A microbiological study revealed that higher LAB but lower yeast counts were observed in inoculated silages compared to non-inoculated silage. Overall data suggested that the addition of LAB stains could have ability to induce the fermentation process and improve the silage quality via increasing lactic acid and decreasing undesirable microbes.

Climate change effects are particularly apparent in many cool-season grasslands in South Korea. Moreover, the probability of climate extremes has intensified and is expected to increase further. In this study, we performed climate change vulnerability assessments in cool-season grasslands based on the analytic hierarchy process method to contribute toward effective decision-making to help reduce grassland damage caused by climate change and extreme weather conditions. In the analytic hierarchy process analysis, vulnerability was found to be influenced in the order of climate exposure (0.575), adaptive capacity (0.283), and sensitivity (0.141). The climate exposure rating value was low in Jeju-do Province and high in Daegu (0.36–0.39) and Incheon (0.33–0.5). The adaptive capacity index showed that grassland compatibility (0.616) is more important than other indicators. The adaptation index of Jeollanam-do Province was higher than that of other regions and relatively low in Gangwon-do Province. In terms of sensitivity, grassland area and unused grassland area were found to affect sensitivity the most with index values of 0.487 and 0.513, respectively. The grassland area rating value was low in Jeju-do and Gangwon-do Province, which had large grassland areas. In terms of vulnerability, that of Jeju-do Province was lower and of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province higher than of other regions. These results suggest that integrating the three aspects of vulnerability (climate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) may offer comprehensive and spatially explicit adaptation plans to reduce the impacts of climate change on the cool-season grasslands of South Korea.

The increase in temperature due to climate warming is predicted to affect crop yields in the future. Until now, various types of OTC (open top chamber) that simulate the future climate condition have been developed and used to study the effect of temperature increase due to global warming on maize growth. However, in most OTCs, high equipment and maintenance costs were required to artificially increase the temperature. This study was carried to develop a cost-effective and simple OTC suitable for climate warming experiments for forage maize. Three octagonal OTCs with a height of 3.5 m × a diameter of 4.08 m and a partially covered top were constructed. The lower part of OTC covered film was opened at a height of 26 cm (OTC-26), 12 cm (OTC-12) from the ground surface, or not opened (0 cm, OTC-0). Mean air temperatures during the daytime on a sunny day in OTC-0, OTC-12 and OTC-26 increased to 3.23℃, 1.33℃, and 0.89℃, respectively, compared to the ambient control plot. For a pilot test, forage maize, ‘Gwangpyeongok’ was grown at OTCs and ambient control plots. As a result, in the late maize vegetative growth phase (July 30), the plant height was increased more than 45% higher than the ambient control plot in all OTC plots, and the stem diameter also increased in all OTC plots. These results indicate that it is possible to set the temperature inside the OTC by adjusting the opening height of the lower end of the OTC, and it can be applied to study the response of forage maize to elevated temperature. An OTC, with its advantages of energy free, low maintenance cost, and simple temperature setting, will be helpful in studying maize growth responsiveness to climate warming in the future.

Ensiling is the most preferred technology to preserve the silage quality with high nutrients by the presence of lactic acid bacteria. In this study, lactic acid bacteria RJ1 and S22 were used to make the silages from different leguminous plants such as alfalfa, hairy vetch and red clover. Experimental groups were divided into control and LAB inoculated groups. LAB inoculated group; all legumes treated with a mixture of RJ1 and S22 and made an anaerobic condition for 45d. Without the addition of LAB considered the control group. The results showed that the lactic acid content was higher in all silages in response to LAB treatment and acetic acid content was slightly increased except red clover by LAB compared to control silages. A poor silage quality marker butyric acid was reduced all legume silages in response to LAB inoculation than control silages. The organic acid is closely associated with microbial population experimental silages. We noted that higher LAB and lower yeast were found in the silage in response to LAB treatment. The contents of crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and total digestible nutrient (TDN) were not altered significantly between control and LAB treated silages. Overall data suggested that the inclusion of additional LAB potentially enhance the silage quality and preserved the nutrients for long period.

This study was evaluated to compare annual productivity and feed value of Italian ryegrass and summer forage crops at paddy field in middle region of Korea. Italian ryegrass (Kowinearly) was used as winter forage crop, and forage rice (Youngwoo) and barnyard millet (Jeju) were used as summer forage crops. Each crop was cultivated using the standard forage cultivation method. The plant height, dry matter yield, crude protein content, and total digestible nutrient content of Italian ryegrass were 90.6 cm, 7,681 kg/ha, 9.2%, and 63.8%, respectively, and it was no significant difference by summer forage crops (p>0.05). The plant height of summer forage crops was the higher in barnyard millet than in forage rice (p<0.05). The dry matter, crude protein, and total digestible nutrient yields of summer forage crops were the higher in forage rice than in barnyard millet (p<0.05). Also, the feed value of summer forage crops was higher in forage rice than in barnyard millet. In conclusion, the combination of Italian ryegrass-forage rice was the most effective cropping system for annual forage production with high-yield and high-feed value, and it was considered the combination of Italian ryegrass-barnyard millet was good cropping system for annual forage production through reducing labor and cultivating stable at paddy field in middle region of Korea.

This study was carried out to study the effect of supplementary nitrogen fertilization application time according to regrowth date on growth date on growth characteristics, feed value, and productivity of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.; IRG) from 2019 to 2021 in Cheonan region. In order to determine the regrowth time, IRG was cut from experimental plots 3cm above soil level and the time when 1cm grew was judged as the regrowth time. The regrowth dates were February 15th and February 12th in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The experimental design was a randomized block design with three replications. The treatments were no fertilizer, immediately after the regrowth period, after 10 days of the regrowth period, and after 25 days of the regrowth period. Dry matter yield of IRG was significantly influenced by the supplementary N-fertilization application time. Dry matter yield was reduced for the delayed application time. The dry matter yield of immediately after the regrowth period was approximately 34.8 % higher than that no fertilizer application. In delaying the supplementary N-fertilization application time resulted in increased crude protein content. However, no significant statistical difference was neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber(p>0.05). After wintering, productivity of IRG reduced for the delayed application time. Therefore, it is essential to application N-fertilizer immediately after the regrowth period for high productivity of IRG.

Sorghum×sudangrass hybrid (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, SSH) is one of the most important summer forage crop and it is widely used for silage in Korea. Agriculture is highly dependent on the climate condition and experiencing significant loss of productivity due to climate change. This study was conducted to investigate the correlation analysis between productivity of forage SSH and climatic factors in Central Northern region of South Korea for 3 years (2017 to 2019). Plant height and dry matter yield of SSH were significantly higher in Gyeonggi-do than Ganwon-do. The productivity of SSH is more closely related with temperature than other climatic factors. Maximum temperature and Growing degree days in May and June showed a positive correlation. However, correlation between production of SSH and precipitation was not clear in this study, but rainy days showed a negative correlation (0.42). In conclusion, temperature is most important climatic factor to the maintenance of plant yield.

We aimed to predict the Italian ryegrass (IRG) productivity change of introduced and domestic varieties based on climate factors and identify suitable areas for IRG cultivation using the RCP 8.5 scenario. The minimum mean air temperature in January showed the highest correlation with productivity. The ratio of possible and low productivity areas was high in Gangwondo, and the ratio of suitable and best suitable areas was relatively high in the central and southern regions in the past 30 years. The change in the IRG cultivation area was found to be 26.9% in the best suitable area between 1981–2010 but increased significantly to 88.9% between 2090s. In the IRG suitability comparison classes between domestic and introduced cultivars, the ratio of suitable and best suitable areas was relatively high in the domestic varieties during the past 30 years. However, there is almost no difference between the IRG domestic and introduced varieties in the IRG suitability classes after the 2050s. These results can predict changes in the IRG suitability classes between domestic and introduced cultivars according to the climate change scenario, but there are limitations in accurately predicting the productivity of IRG because the results may vary depending on other environmental factors.

This experiment was carried out to study the effects of different environmental conditions and cultivation techniques on productivity of grasslands in central and southern area of Korea on 2017 and 2018. Average dry matter yield of grasslands at 10 actual production sites was 7,496 kg/ha. that was ranged from 4,652 to 13,292 kg/ha with least significant difference(LSD) of 1,577kg/ha between grasslands (p<0.05) on 2017. Average dry matter yield of grasslands at 10 actual production sites was 7,914 kg/ha. that was ranged from 3,927 to 12,372 kg/ha with LSD of 1,577kg/ha between grasslands(p<0.05) on 2018. Dry matter(DM) yield of grasslands have positive correlation with soil fertility (p<0.01) but not correlated with rainfall and air temperature among cultivation environments. And also DM yield of grasslands have positive correlation with grassland management techniques(p<0.01). These results suggest that practices of grassland management techniques and improvement of soil fertility are more important than cultivation environments by climate change for increasing the DM yield of grassland in central and southern area of Korea.

This study was conducted to find out the effects of seed mixture using new domestic grass varieties orchardgrass ‘Onnuri’ and tall fescue ‘Greenmaster’ on botanical composition and dry matter productivity from 2015 to 2018 in oversown hilly pasture, the central northern area of Korea. This experiment was consisted of 4 mixed grasses (Treatment 1 : tall fescue oriented mixture with imported varieties; Treatment 2 : orchardgrass oriented mixture with imported varieties; Treatment 3 : orchardgrass oriented mixture with domestic varieties, Treatment 4 : tall fescue oriented mixture with domestic varieties). Evaluation of seasonal changes in botanical composition of pasture showed that orchardgrass was the highest in all treatments, ranging from 46 to 89% and Kentucky bluegrass was the second highest in all treatments. Treatment 3 (7,633 kg ha-1) and Treatment 4 (7,570 kg ha-1), mixed grasses using domestic varieties, were showed the highest dry matter yield than Treatment 1(6,950 kg ha-1) and Treatment 2 (6,934 kg ha-1), which were mixed grasses using introduced varieties. Therefore, these results showed that the orchard grass oriented grasses mixture with domestic varieties was good for grassland vegetation and productivity in oversown hilly pasture, the central northern area of Korea.