A new variety of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), named 'Alfaking' was developed between 2015 and 2023 at the Grassland and Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Cheonan, Republic of Korea. The variety was produced through artificial hybridization, with ‘Paravivo’ serving as the maternal line and ‘WL514’ as the paternal line. ‘Alfaking’ underwent field tests across four regions (Cheonan, Pyeongchang, Jeongeup, and Jinju) to evaluate its agronomic characteristics and forage production over two years (2022-2023). The dry matter yield of ‘Alfaking’ reached 22,516 kg/ha, which is 11% higher than the control variety, ‘Vernal.’ ‘Alfaking’ exhibited 2.1% higher crude protein content than ‘Vernal’ in forage nutritive value. The development of this new alfalfa variety, which exhibits excellent adaptability to challenging environmental conditions, is expected to enhance forage cultivation and productivity in Korea.

The current survey form of grassland has not played its role in managing the grassland effectively because of the ambiguous questionnaire items and the absence of method and time of the investigation. Therefore, this study was conducted to clarify and add the items for effective of grassland management. The survey form of grassland was regulated in Article 16 of the Enforcement Rules of the Grassland Act (Survey on Grasslands Management Status, etc.). The five contents that needed improvement were the grassland owner, the survey timing and method of established grassland, grassland used livestock, grassland usage condition, and grassland grade. In the improved survey form of grassland, the grassland owner was changed to the grassland manager. In addition, ‘Survey by each land’ was added to the improved survey form in which the managers can survey each land. The dimension of each grassland establishment method was deleted in the grassland establishment time and method. In the livestock using grassland, the number of livestock and the area where livestock are used were added, and the number of other livestock was added, too. The grassland grade was decided as the combined score by three evaluation categories; grassland usage, the ratio of forage production in grassland and kinds of forage. The high, middle, and low grades were over 8, 6~7, and under 5 points in the combined score, respectively. The results show that the changed survey form of grassland can make grassland management more efficient by materializing the subject of grassland management and the survey terminology and methods.

The grassland section of the greenhouse gas inventory has limitations due to a lack of review and verification of biomass compared to organic carbon in soil while grassland is considered one of the carbon storages in terrestrial ecosystems. Considering the situation at internal and external where the calculation of greenhouse gas inventory is being upgraded to a method with higher scientific accuracy, research on standards and methods for calculating carbon accumulation of grassland biomass is required. The purpose of this study was to identify international trends in the calculation method of the grassland biomass sector that meets the Tier 2 method and to conduct a review of variables applicable to the Republic of Korea. Identify the estimation methods and access levels for grassland biomass through the National Inventory Report in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and type the main implications derived from overseas cases. And, a field survey was conducted on 28 grasslands in the Republic of Korea to analyse the applicability of major issues. Four major international issues regarding grassland biomass were identified. 1) country-specific coefficients by land use; 2) calculations on woody plants; 3) loss and recovery due to wildfire; 4) amount of change by human activities. As a result of field surveys and analysis of activity data available domestically, it was found that there was a significant difference in the amount of carbon in biomass according to use type classification and climate zone-soil type classification. Therefore, in order to create an inventory of grassland biomass at the Tier 2 level, a policy and institutional system for making activity data should develop country-specific coefficients for climate zones and soil types.

As a means to activate eco pastoral system in alpine grassland, the government can consider public pastures, which are currently unused, to scale them up into public ranches. Depending on ownership and operation, four management models proposed as follows: 1) Government-Owned and Operated with Balanced Profit and Loss 2) Government-Owned and Operated with Revenue Generation 3) Government-Owned but Privately Operated by Outsourced to Professional Manager 4) Full Privatization (Ownership and Operation by Private Individuals). The study outlined above proposes four management models for the activation of eco pastoral system in alpine grassland. It also suggests methods for the selection and performance evaluation of manager to establish a profitable structure. Additionally, the research provides management methods for the conservation of grazing ecology in pastoral ecosystems. Particularly, the adaptation of tools commonly used in South Korean business sector for the selection and performance evaluation of manager within the system of the proposed management models. This aspect is deemed valuable as it aligns these tools with the specific characteristics of eco pastoral system in alpine grassland, contributing not only to the effective implementation of the models but also to the enhancement of the revenue structure.

In this study, the appropriate unit cost in grassland establishment was redeveloped by the grassland establishment method and work criteria. The grassland establishment method was divided into tillage establishment (all logging) and no-tillage establishment (all logging and partial logging). The price for the work criteria by the establishment method was presented for each permission/authorization and establishment work. In permission/authorization for grassland establishment, the cost of each work criteria was of environmental impact (small scale environmental impact) assessment, disaster impact assessment, cadastral serving fee, forest survey, and connection fee for control of mountainous districts. In establishment was of logging, cleaning/gruffing, plowing/soil preparation, seeding, fertilization, livestock manure compost, seed, herbicide, labor cost (fertilizer, seed and herbicide), soil consolidation, cattle trail, and fence. The unit cost of grassland establishment was KRW 115,894,212 for the tillage establishment, and KRW 110,281,572 and KRW 106,680,122 for the all and partial logging of the no-tillage establishment, respectively. The current study redeveloped the establishment method, work criteria, and estimation of the unit cost of grassland establishment. It can be usefully used to carry out government projects to support related to establishment and maintenance of grassland.

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 suggest the new grassland grade system on evaluating the grassland status. The grassland status has been evaluated based on the forage yield (good, fair and poor) by municipal authorities. The grassland grades by current system were 19 good, 11 fair and 11 poor among the 41 grassland farms from 6 provinces. This evaluation result differed greatly from the result of actual measurement of forage yields which showed all poor. The big difference was resulted from failing the reflection of the various characteristics, such as different seasonal growth and harvest frequency. Furthermore, the lack of consistent examining date and method added the inaccuracy of current grassland grade system. The new grassland grade system based on the grassland vegetation ratio (grass, weed and bare soil) was initially designed into 6-grade system (1st; 100~80%, 2nd; 79~60%, 3rd; 59~40%, 4th; 39~20%; 5th; 19~1% and 6th; 0% on the basis of grasses proportion), but later was changed into 4-grade system (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades are 70% or more, 50% or more, 50% or less, and 0% of forage proportion, respectively) after reflecting the opinion of grassland farms and municipal authorities. Re-evaluation on the grassland status using the 4-grade system resulted in the total 80% consisted of 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade which means most grasslands needs the partial reseeding or the rehabilitation of entire grassland. Pictures and schematic diagrams depicting the 4-grade system were presented to improve the objectivity of evaluation. The optimal time for assessing grassland status is fall when plant height 20~30 cm. Conclusively, the 4-grade system is an efficient method for all non-professionals including grassland farms or municipal authorities in assessing the grassland status. To apply this system to the field, the institutional arrangements such as amendment of grassland act should take place in advance.

This study was conducted to investigate 106 grassland farms in six provinces including Chungcheongbuk-do, Gangwon-do, Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, Jeju-do, and Jeollanam-do to present their problems and causes by surveying the actual state of grassland farms during three years(2014~2016). The grassland survey was divided into three categories; used as the perennial grasses and annual forage crops (Complied with Grassland Act), not used as the perennial grasses and annual forage crops (Not complied with Grassland Act) and failed to meet the farmer and some items are missing or inaccurate (Insufficient contents). Among the surveyed grassland farm, 68 farms (64.2 %) were complied with Grassland Act but 30 farms (28.3 %) were not complied with Grassland Act. Especially, the 8 farms (26.7 %) not complied with Grassland Act used the grassland as other purposes such as tree growing, golf club and swine farm etc.. Therefore, strict on-site investigation by local governments is required to prevent the grassland from being used by illegal purposes. And there’s a strong likelihood that 5 farms (62.5 %) avoided the survey violate the positive law. Grassland grades used by the local administrative agencies were not influenced by the factors affecting the yield (existence and non-existence of overseeding and fertilization by grassland grade, soil pH and organic matter content). This results suggest that there is a fundamental problem on the current grassland grade system based on the yield and the irregular time of investigation and lack of on-site investigation are another causes for inaccurate grassland grade. Therefore, the new method evaluating grassland grades which is not based on yield and the thorough on-site investigation by local administrative agencies are necessary when the grassland grade is evaluated.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of goat grazing on the surface water quality of the alpine grasslands. Seven sites were selected across the goat farm for water sample collection and analysis. Samples were analyzed for BOD (Biological oxygen demand), total nitrogen, total phosphorous, electrical conductivity and water turbidity. All the above-mentioned parameters remained below the standard limit of Korean government at the end site. Puddles showed higher values, but below standard, as stagnant water has lower physico-chemical properties as of flowing water. The present study clearly showed that goat grazing doesn’t affect water quality in grasslands if grazing is according to carrying capacity of grassland and fertilizer application is judicious.

본 연구는 산지생태축산이 가진 다원적 기능을 제시하고 그에 따른 가치를 평가하였다. 산지생태축산의 다원적 기능은 크게 직접이용가치, 간접이용가치, 유산가치의 세 가지로 분류할 수 있으며, 직접이용가치의 경우 조사료 및 축산물 생산과 같은 채집 기능과 레크리에이션 및 관광과 같은 비채집 기능이 존재한다. 간접이용가치의 경우 수자원 관리, 토양 침식 조절, 대기 조절, 경관, 축산분뇨처리, 산불확산억제 기능이 존재하며, 유산가치의 경우 종다양성 기능이 존재한다. 분석결과 산지생태축산 운영지 1ha의 연간가치는 직접이용가치 21,090,874원, 간접이용가치는 경관이 초지일 때 15,562,203원, 경관이 임간초지 일 때 16,018,224원으로 추정되었고, 유산가치의 경우 종다양성 가치로 멸종위기종의 개체수에 따라 최소 767,273원에서 최대 1,578,845원으로 추정되어, 다원적 가치의 총합은 최소 37,420,350원에서 최대 38,687,942원으로 분석되었다. 본 연구의 결과를 통하여 국내 산지생태축산 정책수립에 유용한 정보를 제공할 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.

반초원의 식생이 훼손된 중국 내몽골의 간주얼 지역에서 인위적인 식물의 도입에 의하여 서로 다른 연도에 복원된 식물군락의 천이와 토양의 특성 변화를 조사하였다. 간주얼 지역의 식물군집(식피율, 식물 수고와 식물 종다양성(종수)등)의 결과들은 복원지소들이 비복원지보다 높게 나타났지만, 주변의 정상적인 대조지소들보다는 낮은 값을 보였다. 이러한 결과는 이 지역에서 생태복원으로 인하여 생태계의 구성요소가 꾸준하게 발전하고 있음을 뜻한다. 복원이 가장 오래된 2005년 지소의 경우, 식물종구성이 유사한 대조지 사이트인 초지지역의 것들과 식피율이나 식생고가 유사한 결과들을 보여 복원의 효과를 긍정적 볼 수 있으나, 식물다 양성 측면에서는 아직 대조지 초지의 것보다 높지 않았다. 2017년의 경우, 2014년 조사 시작 이래 가장 많은 종들이 고사하여 주요 우점종들의 생육이 불안정한 상태를 가시적으로도 확인할 수 있는 정도로 현지조사의 결과들이 이를 반영하고 있다. 2008년 복원지 장자송의 소지생존 성장률은 47%로 작년(100%)보다 낮아졌으며, 조사대상인 20개체 중 5개체가 고사하였다. 군락 내 식생고(식물체높이)의 결과에서는 복원지들이 모두 낮아진 결과를 보였는데, 이는 장자송, 캐나다포플러 등 주요 우점종들이 고사하여 나타난 결과이다. 이렇게 많은 식물이 고사함에도 불구하고 하층에 살아 남아 생존하는 동일수종 및 다른 식물종들은 경쟁상대가 줄어들면서 오히려 더 활력이 좋아지는 결과를 나타내기도 하였다. 이러한 결과는 복원지에서 정착된 식생의 발달은 진행 중이나 그 항목에 따라서 외부의 물리적인 환경(가뭄 등)과 같은 요인에 의하여 영향을 크게 받고 있음을 의미 한다. 식생군락과 환경요인과의 분석(CCA)결과는 비생육기 온도(11월~2월), 생육기온도(6월~8월), 토양유기물, TN, 유효인산 그리고 산화칼륨이 영향을 주는 외부의 주요 비생물학적 환경인자로 나타났다.

The main objective of this experiment was to investigate effects of two different feeding systems on body weight, milk yield, milk composition, and mineral and fatty acids content of Holstein dairy cows’ milk. Sixteen of 25 months-old Holstein dairy cows were assigned to two groups (n=8) to study effects of the feeding system for 150 days. Two feeding systems were compared for five months; Group 1 was housed indoors and mainly fed a concentrate diet, Group 2 was maintained outdoors for five-seven hours/day on various kinds grass in a pasture. The experiment was conducted June-October 2017. Results revealed the indoor-fed cows had higher body weight, that was significant compared with the outdoor-based feeding system of Holstein dairy cows (p<0.05). Indoor-raised milking cows had higher milk yield (32.45 kg) as compared with pasture-raised milk yield (26.44 kg). Cows fed indoors significantly increased milk yield, total protein content, lactose, citric acid level, and lowered level of total solid and free fatty acids relative to the pasture-fed milking cows (p>0.05). There were higher levels of mineral content and fatty acid content in the milk of indoor-fed dairy cows than the pasture-raised dairy cows (p>0.05). Our study results demonstrated the potential benefits of the indoor feeding system for increased body weight, milk yield, mineral and fatty acids content summer through autumn when low pasture growth rates and quality may otherwise limit production.

The objective of this study was to investigate the suitable method for rapid establishment of grassland according to forage species, mixed pastures and installation of mesh at 35 degree angle of cutting area in the middle region of Korea. In agronomic characteristics after wintering, vegetation coverage of Tall fescue(TF) was 74% in monoculture, which was the highest among 3 forage crops. Meanwhile average vegetation coverages of monoculture and mixed pasture were 67 and 92% in treated of mesh, which were 4 and 18% higher than untreated of mesh, respectively. In botanical composition, TF of monoculture and Orchardgrass(OG) and TF oriented mixed were indicated over 94% forage coverage. Meanwhile forage coverages Kentucky bluegrass(KBG) and Red top(RT) of monoculture and Perennial ryegrass(PRG) oriented mixture were 89, 81 and 92% in treated of mesh, which were 7, 6 and 5% higher than untreated of mesh, respectively. In forage productivity, dry matter yield(DMY) of TF(12,537kg/ha) and KBG(11,897kg/ha) of monoculture were significant(p<0.05) higher than RT(9,604kg/ha). Meanwhile DMY of OG(12,227kg/ha), TF(12,823kg/ha) and PRG(11,871kg/ha) oriented mixed were not significant difference(p>0.05). In forage quality of monoculture, in the first year, crude protein of KBG was 13.6%, which was the highest among 3 forage species. Also neutral detergent fiber(NDF) of TF was 56.5%, which was the lowest among 3 forage species. In mixed pasture, in the second year, NDF and acid detergent fiber of PRG oriented mixed were 56.5 and 34.3%, respectively, which was the lowest among 3 mixed pasture. In conclusion, forage species TF was more suitable on initial rootage and continuous forage coverage, OG and TF oriented mixed were more suitable on continuous forage coverage. Also the installation of mesh showed positive effects on initial rootage and maintain forage ratio.

The present study was carried out to explore the potential effect of shading degrees on yields and nutritive values of forage in forest-grassland. This experiment was conducted this study under different natural shading at National Institute of Animal Science, Cheonan province in Korea, for 2 years (from 2015 to 2016). This experiment was consisted of four different shading degrees, such as full sunlight (control, 10% below), 25% of shading, 35% of shading, 50% of shading. Pasture species used in this study were orchardgrass ‘Kodiwin’, perenial ryegrass ‘Linn’, tall fescue ‘Purumi’, kentuky bluegrass ‘Kenblue’, and white clover ‘Ladino’. Botanical composition of orchardgrass was higher than that of perenial ryegrass, tall fescue and kentuky bluegrass. Dry matter (DM) yields of forage decreased as increasing shading degrees. DM yields of forage significantly decreased as increasing shading degrees and lots of cutting times under increasing shading degrees decreased DM yields of forage. The content of crude protein increased as increasing shading degrees and the contents of acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), the activity of total digestible nutrient (TDN) and in-vitro digestibility (IVD), and relative feed value (RFV) were similar in control and different shading. This study suggests that orchardgrass is major component for forest-grassland and establishment of orchardgrass can be improved by increasing shading degrees.

The objective of study was to find the relationship in hilly pasture landscape expectancy and tourist’s satisfaction on grassland facility. It was followed by literature reviews and visitors’ survey in Daegwallyeong Yangtte Farm on 31, July, 2014. 367 respondents were analyzed by F-test, t-test, Chi-square and Fisher’s Exact Test at 0.05 level after data screening process. Computing factors were sex, marital status, age, academic career and occupation. The results was as followed; First, major respondents group of survey were in oder of woman, forty years old group, married office worker, and university graduate. Second, the expectancy for grassland was significant difference in age, but pasture color expectancy was not significant difference in gender, age, educational background, marital status, and there was significant difference in favorite grassland type with age, marital status. Third, favorite fence type was not significant difference along with all group of participants. However, color and material of fence was significant difference in marital status. Fourth, preferred ranch road was significant difference with occupation and marital status. There was significant difference in favorite grassland type near ranch road along with age and occupation type. Fifth, the mean satisfaction was 3.6 point in 5.0. Therefore, all respondents were generally satisfaction in visited. Tourists were more interested in ranch landscape than experience or contacts to animal.