bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nitrate leaching from sheep-grazed upland pastures in Wales
Authors: Cuttle S. P. , Hallard M. , Gill E. K. , Scurlock R. V. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYCeramic cup samplers were used to measure nitrate leaching from grass/clover pasture in Wales to which no N fertilizer had been applied and from a predominantly grass pasture receiving 100 kg fertilizer-N/ha annually. Annual leaching losses at individual sampling points, measured over a 3-year period between 1988 and 1991, ranged from the equivalent of < 0·1 to 226 kg N/ha. All data sets were positively skewed and in four out of six cases conformed to a log-normal distribution. The marked spatial heterogeneity was attributed to the uneven deposition of N in the excreta of grazing stock but variations in soil depth and hydrology may also have contributed. Particularly large losses occurred from those areas of the plots where sheep congregated. As a result of this heterogeneity, there were large standard errors associated with estimates of mean losses from the pastures as a whole. Overall losses ranged from 13 to 24 kg N/ha per year from grass/clover plots and from 10 to 13 kg/ha from fertilized grass plots. There was no consistent relationship between relative losses from the two types of pasture. The quantity of nitrate leached appeared to be independent of stocking rate, although there was a direct correspondence between the loss from grass/clover plots and the proportion of clover in the sward. Estimates of nitrate concentrations in drainage never exceeded 5·6 mg N/I for either sward.
Effects of grazing chicory (Cichorium intybus) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)/white clover (Trifolium repens) pasture upon the growth and voluntary feed intake of red and hybrid deer during lactation and post-weaning growth
Authors: Kusmartono  , Barry T. N. , Wilson P. R. , Kemp P. D. , Stafford K. J. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYTwo grazing trials were carried out at Palmerston North, New Zealand using lactating red deer hinds in summer 1994 (Expt 1) and using weaner deer during the autumn, winter and spring of 1993 (Expt 2), to compare the feeding value of chicory (Cichorium intybus) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)/white clover (Trifolium repens) pasture for increasing the growth of deer calves. Red deer and hybrid (0·25 elk; 0·75 red deer) calves were used in both experiments. Experiment 2 concluded with slaughter at the end of spring, when the deer werec.12 months old. In both experiments, animals were rotationally grazed on either pasture or chicory with DM allowances being 12 kg DM/hind per day (Expt 1), and 6, 6 and 7 kg DM/head per day during autumn, winter and spring respectively (Expt 2).Perennial ryegrass comprised 62% of pasture on offer in Expt 1 and 78–90% in Expt 2, whilst chicory comprised 90–92% of forage on offer in both experiments. Relative to pasture, chicory had a higher ratio of readily fermentable: structural carbohydrate and had higher organic matter digestibility (OMD) in summer and autumn but not in spring.Deer grazing chicory had higher voluntary feed intake (VFI), bite weight, liveweight gain (LWG), carcass dressing percentage and carcass weight and much shorter ruminating time than deer grazing pasture. Hybrid deer grew better than red deer and there were forage × genotype interactions in Expt 2, with LWG and carcass weight of hybrid deer being much greater when grazed on chicory. Carcass weight for red deer and hybrid stags was 63·2 and 73·0 kg when grazed on chicory and 56·6 and 57·0 kg when grazed on pasture. Grazing chicory advanced the date of first-cut velvet antler by 28 days and increased the weight of total harvestable (first-cut + regrowth) velvet antler. It is concluded that grazing chicory increased carcass weight, especially in hybrid stags with increased growth potential, and increased velvet antler production. This was achieved by increased VFI in all seasons and increased OMD of chicory in summer and autumn relative to deer grazing pasture. Further research is need to determine the efficiency of rumination on particle size breakdown and to measure rumen outflow rate in deer fed chicory.
The manurial value of sewage sludge applied to fen peat soils
Authors: Dawson Siân E. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryPrevious research has shown that sewage sludge can act as a source of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer. Fen peat soils are organic soils derived from plant material and are known to differ from mineral soils in their plant-nutrient availability. The work reported in this paper compares the effects of liquid digested, liquid raw and dewatered digested sludge with inorganic nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers on a typical fenland rotation of winter wheat, sugar beet and potatoes.It is concluded that sludge can replace inorganic nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer on fen soil, and it appears that applications of sludge containing large amounts of fresh organic matter can act as a soil conditioner and produce higher yields than can be obtained from the use of fertilizer alone.
Trace elements in soils and pasture herbage on farms with bovine hypocupraemia
Authors: Leech Anne F. , Thornton I. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryThe importance of molybdenum, sulphur, iron, zinc and cadmium dietary antagonists to ruminant copper metabolism was investigated at the farm level in an attempt to explain the widespread occurrence of bovine hypocupraemia in recent years.From 22 of the most severely hypocupraemic regions of England, six areas with as wide a range of geological, pedological and topological situations as possible were selected for detailed field work. This involved the collection of topsoil and herbage samples from approximately 15 farms per area with hypocupraemic stock. Possible causal factors of bovine hypocupraemia were then considered on the basis of three criteria: critical concentrations of copper, molybdenum, sulphur, iron, zinc and cadmium in pasture herbage; Cu:Mo ratios in herbage; and copper availability predictions for ruminants.Absolute copper deficiency and molybdenum-induced bovine hypocupraemia were clearly demonstrated at the farm level. The results also confirmed that dietary sulphur, in particular, plays a significant yet previously unrecognized role in the widespread incidence of bovine hypocupraemia in industrialized Britain. Antagonism due to iron orginating from soil-contaminated herbage was evident, but not common. No evidence was found to support the occurrence of zinc- or cadmium-induced hypocupraemia in the areas examined.
Comparison of rotations in which barley for grain follows woollypod vetch or forage barley
Authors: Papastylianou I. , Samios Th. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryUsing data from rotation studies in which barley or woollypod vetch were included, both cut for hay and preceding barley for grain, it is shown that forage barley gave higher dry-matter yield than woollypod vetch (3·74 v. 2·92 t/ha per year). However, the latter gave feedingstuff of higher nitrogen concentration and yield (86 kg N/ha per year for vetch v. 55 kg N/ha per year for barley). Rainfall was an important factor in controlling the yield of the two forages and the comparison between them in different years and sites. Barley following woollypod vetch gave higher grain yield than when following forage barley (2·36 v. 1·91 t/ha). Rotation sequences which included woollypod vetch had higher output of nitrogen (N) than input of fertilizer N with a positive value of 44–60 kg N/ha per year. In rotations where forage barley was followed by barley for grain the N balance between output and input was 5–6 kg N/ha. Total soil N was similar in the different rotations at the end of a 7-year period.
Effects of particle size on digestion of hay by sheep
Authors: Fadlalla B. , Kay R. N. B. , Goodall E. D. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryThe digestion and retention times of milled hay diets were first studied in three sheep fitted with rumen and abomasal cannulae. The hay was milled through 5, 20 or 40 mm screens. Solubility of dry matter (D.M.) in water and rate of loss of D.M. from hay in nylon bags suspended in the rumen increased with fineness of grinding. Apparent digestibility of D.M. within the gut tended to fall with fineness of grinding, as did mean retention time (MRT) of a particulate marker, [103Ru]phenanthroline ([103Ru]phen), within the gut and of [103Ru]phen and a liquid marker, [51Cr]EDTA, within the rumen. Dry-sieved abomasal particles were much smaller than particles of any of the hay preparations, most passing through a 0·6 mm screen.A second experiment was made on four other sheep, fitted with rumen cannulae and given a similar hay, chopped to 50 mm or milled through 2, 5 or 20 mm screens. Apparent digestibility of D.M. within the gut fell significantly with fineness of grinding, from 55% with the chopped hay to 46% with the 2 mm hay, as did MRT, from 45 to 40 h respectively. Rumen pH at 1 h after feeding decreased with fineness of grinding.In a third experiment, using the four sheep given chopped or 2 mm hay, retention times of particulate matter and of fluid in the reticulo-rumen and in the caecum-colon were measured. [103Ru]phen and [51Cr]EDTA were dosed together into either the rumen or the terminal ileum, and the rates of decline of marker concentration in rumen samples or faeces respectively were used to calculate the appropriate half times(t½). In the rumen particulate and fluid markers showed significantly shorter t½ values with the 2 mm hay (20·8 and 12·4 h, respectively) than with the chopped hay (25·9 and 15·6 h, respectively) without a significant difference in rumen outflow (0·437 and 0·492 l/h, respectively). In the caecum-colon the corresponding t½ values were 6·4 and 6·3 h, and 7·1 and 6·6 h, there being no significant difference either between markers or between diets.Samples of chopped hay and of 20, 5 and 2 mm hays were suspended in bags in the rumen of sheep given either chopped or 2 mm hay to eat. The fine hays lost D.M. more rapidly than the coarse hays but D.M. loss was slower when the sheep's diet was 2 mm hay that when it was chopped hay.It is concluded that three factors accounted for the effect of milling on digestibility: retention time in the reticulo-rumen, D.M. degradation rate in the rumen, and the potential digestibility of the hay preparation (asymptotic D.M. loss as measured in the rumen bag studies). It appeared that fine grinding reduced the digestibility of the hay because the effects of shortened MRT in reducing duration of digestion and of lowered rumen pH in depressing cellulolysis outweighed the effects of grinding in accelerating digestion and increasing potential digestibility within the rumen.
Effect of concurrent infection with Ostertagia circumcincta and Trichostrongylus colubriformis on the performance of growing lambs consuming fresh herbage
Authors: Sykes A. R. , Poppi D. P. , Elliot D. C. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryNinety 4-month-old wether lambs were allocated to an initial slaughter group (n =10) or to one cell (n= 5) of a 4 × 4 factorial treatment design involving four levels of infection with Ostertagia circumcincta (0, 1000, 2000 and 4000 larvae/day) and Trichostrongyluscolubriformis (0, 1000, 2000 and 3000 larvae/day). They were maintained indoors in individual pens and offered freshly cut ryegrass-white clover herbage during an 84-day period of infection after which they were slaughtered. Body protein, fat, water, Ca and P contents were determined. Feed digestibility was determined in all sheep during 5-day periods during weeks 2, 5, 8 and 11. Faecal egg counts were determined and blood samples obtained at intervals and total worm counts done at slaughter.The effects of mixed infection on feed intake and body-weight gain were multiplicative. Mean D.M. intake of sheep infected simply with 3000 larvae of T. colubriformis or with 4000 larvae of O. circtimcincta was reduced by 10 and 8% respectively, but in those infected simultaneously intake was reduced by 30%. Energy retention was depressed mainly by reduction in gross efficiency of use of metabolizable energy in infections with T. colubriformisand by reduction in feed intake in infections with O. circumcincta. The additional effect of mixed infection occurred mainly through further depression in feed intake.There was no interaction between infections in effect on deposition of Ca or P in the body, both species having significant effect. Infection with T. colubriformis caused hypophosphataemia and hypocalcaemia, but infection with O. circumcincta had no effect.The number of worms established by the infections was generally low compared with previous studies with conserved and concentrate feeds. This was associated with relatively low pathogenicity in infection with O. circumcincta and normal pathogenicity with T. colubriformis.Infection with T. colubriformis reduced the number of adult worms of O. circumcincta present at slaughter.
Responses to supplements by weaned lambs when grazing mature pasture or eating hay cut from the same pasture
Authors: Freer M. , Dove H. , Axelsen A. , Donnelly J. R. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryWeaned cross-bred lambs either grazed mature pasture or were confined to yards where they were offered material cut from ungrazed areas of the same pasture. A 1:2 mixture (on an air-dry basis) of sunflower meal and oat grain was offered for 81 days at 0, 200, 400 or 600 g/head or ad libitum. Individual estimates of intake of pasture and supplement by grazing sheep at four levels of supplementation were made on four adjacent plots.Weight gain increased from –30 to 178 g/day in the grazing animals as supplement intake increased up to 1030 g D.M./day and from –25 to 142 g/day in the yarded animals as supplement intake increased to 1076 g D.M./day. Growth of greasy wool increased from 4·5 to 11·7 g/day for grazing animals and from 4·5 to 10·2 g/day for those kept in yards.At levels of supplement intake below 400 g D.M./day, the intake of grazed pasture increased by up to 58% compared with unsupplemented animals. However, when the intake of supplement was increased to about 650 g D.M./day, pasture intake fell, with an estimated substitution rate of 1·1 g D.M. pasture per g D.M. supplement. At all levels of supplementation, the intake of hay by the yarded lambs was less than half the intake of herbage in the field. However, at levels of supplement intake between 300 and 500 g D.M./day, the substitution rate was similar to that measured in the grazing animals, suggesting that this is an attribute of roughage quality, rather than differential eating behaviour between grazing and yarded animals.The wastage, w (g D.M./day), of supplement was linearly related to the amount offered, s (g D.M./day), by the equationw = 0·263s − 38·8; R2 = 0·89Variability in supplement intake between individual grazing lambs was not affected by the level of supplementation but the coefficient of variation of supplement intake was considerably greater than that of the intake of unsupplemented pasture. Variability in the intake of pasture increased with the level of supplementation but variability in the total intake of food was similar at each level of supplement, indicating some degree of individual compensation in the intake of the two components.
The exchangeable bases in some Scottish soils
Authors: Smith A. M. 
Published: March 2009

1. The exchangeable Fe, Al, Ca, Mg, K, Na have been determined in twenty soils from different parts of the East of Scotland, by extraction with N NH4Cl solution. Data on pH, “Lime Requirement” and loss on ignition are given for the sake of comparison.2. Only three soils were found to contain Fe and Al in exchangeable form.3. The content of exchangeable bases varies from 5·6 to 22·2 milligram-equivalents per 100 gm. air-dried soil.4. The evidence is insufficient to deduce any definite relationship between pH and “Lime Requirement” and the pH cannot be correlated with the content of exchangeable bases except in the case of soils similar in character.5. It is suggested that the differences in the relative proportions of the exchangeable bases indicate that there are on the one hand fundamental differences due to soil type and on the other hand fluctuating differences due to manurial treatment.6. Emphasis is laid on the fact that the degree of saturation of a soil is not necessarily indicated by the content of exchangeable bases. At present the absorptive capacities of the soils examined are not known.7. Until a sufficient number of soils have been examined and classified, it is unlikely that any satisfactory generalisation on the subject of exchangeable bases will be forthcoming.
Further observations on the blood copper of Northumbrian sheep
Authors: Eden A. 
Published: March 2009

1. Blood copper data are reported on ninety-four sheep divided into four experimental groups on a “border-pining” hill-side in Northumberland in 1940, in comparison with more extensive findings reported in 1939.2. The mean value for comparable sheep was 0·080 mg. % in 1940 as compared with 0·086 mg. % in 1939, the overall range, 0·013–0·210 mg.%, being even wider than before.3. Variations between animals comprising a group were as wide as between groups, and blood levels were not affected by moderate variations in Cu intake. Only in young sheep was there any evidence that a mineralized cake supplement, containing copper sufficient to double the natural grazing intake, had any elevating effect on blood copper.4. Variations between values for the same individuals in 1939 and in 1940 were as wide as between different individuals in either year. Over 25% of the sheep showed Cu levels in 1940 falling within ±0·01 mg. % of their 1939 values, but nearly 20% showed figures differing by more than ± 0·05 mg. %, irrespective of differences in group treatments.5. The significance of the figures, for normal. Northumbrian ewes is discussed in relation to those reported for Derbyshire ewes bearing lambs affected with “enzootic ataxia” or “swayback”.
The response of field beans (Vicia faba L.) to irrigation and sowing date:1. Yield and yield components
Authors: Husain M. M. , Hill G. D. , Gallagher J. N. 
Published: March 2009

summaryThe response of 4 crops of autumn- and spring-sown field beans cv. Maris Bead to irrigation applied during the vegetative, flowering and pod-filling phases was examined during 1981–2 and 1982–3. The crops, grown on a Templeton silt-loam, were irrigated weekly in amounts equal to the difference between the estimated evapotranspiration and rainfall of the previous week using trickle irrigation.Seed yield of fully irrigated autumn- and spring-sown crops (averaged over the two seasons), was 5·2 and 3·3 t/ha respectively, about 45% greater than the yield of unirrigated crops. The increase in yield due to irrigation was mainly associated with an increase in total dry matter (TDM) production as harvest index varied little within each sowing. The yield response to each mm of applied irrigation water ranged from 0 to 9 kg/ha and did not appear to be related in any way to the developmental phase of the crop when irrigation was applied.Seed yield within each sowing was closely correlated with the number of beans per unit area and the number of pods per plant. Autumn sowings yielded about 55% more than spring sowings mainly due to a higher harvest index which was associated with a much heavier mean weight per bean.
Preliminary studies on the effect of flavouring agents on the dry-matter intake of silage by lactating dairy cows
Authors: Weller R. F. , Phipps R. H. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryIn two trials the effect on D.M. intake of applying flavouring agents to grass silage at feeding time was examined using a total of 89 British Friesian cows in mid to late lactation. The flavouring agent used in Expt 1 was Simax 100 (5 ml/cow per day), while in Expt 2 Palatol (20 ml/cow per day), molasses (0·7 kg D.M./cow per day) and molasses + Talin (0·7 kg D.M./cow per day) were added to both lowand high-quality grass silage.Both Simax (significantly) and Palatol increased silage D.M. intake by an average 0·67 kg/day. The total D.M. intake of the cows fed the molasses and molasses + Talin was similar to that obtained by those receiving the silage treated with Simax and Palatol. However, in the case of the cows receiving the molasses and molasses + Talin, the increased D.M. intake was obtained mainly from the additional molasses and not by an increased silage intake. This result indicates a very low substitution rate for molasses.Although D.M. intake was increased by the addition of flavouring agents, milk production remained unaltered because of the relatively late stage of lactation of the cows in both trials.
Herbage yield and composition of white clover/grass associations in Atlantic Canada
Authors: Fraser J. , Kunelius H. T. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYWhite clover cultivars Sacramento ladino, Sonja and Aberystwyth S.184 were assessed for dry matter (DM) yields, clover content and herbage quality in monostand and in 50:50 mixtures with grasses under cutting at Truro, Nova Scotia and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island between 1986 and 1989. Grasses were: orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.). Dry matter yields ranged from 6158 to 11645 kg/ha and were highest in white clover/orchardgrass and white clover/timothy at Truro, and in white clover/timothy at Charlottetown. Sonja and Aberystwyth S.I84 outperformed Sacramento white clover in herbage DM and clover yield in all years at both locations. First-cut herbage contributed 39 and 29% of total yields at Truro and Charlottetown, respectively. Clover yield was highest in first-cut Sacramento/orchardgrass, but dropped by up to 73% in white clover/timothy associations over a 2-year period. Crude protein ranged from 14·4% in clover/timothy to 23·4% in clover/reed canarygrass and was positively correlated with clover content. It was concluded that choice of clover cultivar as well as grass is an important consideration in maximizing herbage yields and quality in the Atlantic region.
The control of swede powdery mildew
Authors: Brain P. J. , Whittington W. J. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYThree methods of controlling swede mildew were compared. Mildew infection was reduced by delayed sowing but yields from later sown plots were seriously reduced. Infection was reduced but not eliminated on resistant varieties. Highly effective chemical control was achieved with the fungicide Persulon, which showed both eradicant and protective properties. The yield differences between a genetically resistant and a susceptible variety were eliminated when Persulon was used.
Effect of feeding frequency on the diurnal changes in microbial protein, volatile fatty acids and ammonia contents of the rumen of sheep
Authors: Michałowski T. 
Published: March 2009

SUMMARYDiurnal variations in microbial protein nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids and ammonia were examined in two wethers fed once and twice daily with 0·4 kg of concentrateand 0·4 kg hay/day. The total protein nitrogen varied during the day from 76·9 to 130·2 mg/100 ml of rumen fluid. The greatest amount of protein nitrogen was noted immediately before feeding and the smallest 4 h after feeding. The protein nitrogen of rumen protozoa formed about 39·8–53·4% of total protein nitrogen in rumen fluid. Volatile fatty acids varied from 74·0 to 130·5 m-mol/1 of rumen fluid and ammonia from 187·0 to 305·6 mg/1. The higher concentration of total and protozoal protein nitrogen and of VFA was observed when animals were fed twice daily. The changing of feeding frequency from once to twice daily caused an increase of ammonia concentration in the rumen of only one wether. The results obtained are discussed.