Abstract
Abstract Estimation of herbage mass is essential in pasture research and in making practical grazing management decisions. Sward height and a capacitance probe were evaluated as non‐destructive measures of herbage mass at seven dates from April 16 to July 30 on continuously grazed predominantly Kentucky bluegrass ( Poa pratensis L.) pasture. Paddocks were 1 ha in size and were stocked at 3, 4 or 5 steers ha −1 (average initial weight 312 kg). Four to six, sampling points were located randomly in each paddock at each date. Sward height was measured with a ruler, the vegetation in a 0.2 nr area visually designated “high” or “low” according to legume percentage, ten readings using a single capacitance probe were made and the herbage clipped. Paired data with clipped dry weight as dependent variable and height and/or the average corrected probe reading as covariates were analyzed statistically. The relationship between clipped dry weight and nondestructive measures of herbage mass was found to be linear. There was a small effect of sampling date in Spring on the relationship between destructive and non‐destructive measures of herbage mass, but each of the measures, including herbage mass predicted from probe and height measurements, resulted in the same inferences being made about differences between treatments. Neither stocking rate nor small differences in percentage legume affected the relationship. Thus, sward height and capacitance probe show promise as nondestructive measures of pasture herbage mass.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Clipped dry weight had a linear relationship with nondestructive herbage mass measures.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“The relationship between clipped dry weight and nondestructive measures of herbage mass was found to be linear”
t0“Herbage Mass”
Claim · model-written summary
Spring sampling date had a small effect on the relation between destructive and nondestructive measures.
Verbatim
e0“There was a small effect of sampling date in Spring on the relationship between destructive and non‐destructive measures of herbage mass”
Claim · model-written summary
All measures, including probe- and height-predicted herbage mass, led to the same inferences about treatment differences.
Verbatim
e0“each of the measures, including herbage mass predicted from probe and height measurements, resulted in the same inferences being made about differences between treatments”
Claim · model-written summary
Neither stocking rate nor small differences in legume percentage affected the measurement relationship.
Verbatim
e0“Neither stocking rate nor small differences in percentage legume affected the relationship”
e1“relationship between destructive and non‐destructive measures of herbage mass”
Claim · model-written summary
Sward height and the capacitance probe show promise for nondestructive herbage mass measurement.
Verbatim
e0“sward height and capacitance probe show promise as nondestructive measures of pasture herbage mass”