Grassland Notes Working Doc. docx.docx

**[Grassland]** +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Rough Mountain/ | **Permanent | **Leys** | | Hill Grazing** | Grassland** | | +=======================+=======================+============...

**[Grassland]** +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Rough Mountain/ | **Permanent | **Leys** | | Hill Grazing** | Grassland** | | +=======================+=======================+=======================+ | - - - - - - | - - - - - | - - - - | | - | | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ 1. 1. a. b. c. 2. d. e. f. 3. g. h. i. j. - - **Palatability -** Is a measure of how pleasant the grass is to taste. **Productivity -** Is a measure of the quantity of the plant material (herbage) produced by the grass. The higher this is the more that is available to livestock to graze. **Digestibility -** Is the proportion of food that can be assimilated and used by the body in comparison to the amount of food consumed.  **Dry Matter (DM) -** The matter remaining in a sample of food after the water has been removed **Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD) -** The amount (%) of dry matter that can be digested by an animal **Dry Matter Intake (DMI) -** The amount of feed an animal consumes, excluding its water content. **The Grass Plant:** **Roots:** Take in water and nutrients. Anchor the plant in position. **Stem:** Provides upright growth. New tillers grow. **Leaves:** Photosynthesise to produce food. Transpiration causes water to move up the plant. **Inflorescence:** Flower is wind pollinated. The stamens (male) and carpel (female) are outside the flower. The flower changes into the seed head after fertilisation. **2. Seed Selection** +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **Perennial RyeGrass** | **Italian RyeGrass** | +===================================+===================================+ | - - - - - - | - - - - - - | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **White Clover** | **Red Clover** | +===================================+===================================+ | - - - - - - | - - - - - - - | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+    **Livestock Units (LU)** Is a measurement of livestock grazing. 1 LU is the equivalent of one dairy cow or one suckler cow. It is used to determine how much grazing and winter fodder is needed on a farm. 1 LU = 12 tonnes of herbage annually. 1 dairy/suckler cow = 1.0 LU Yearlings = 0.6 LU Cattle \