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USING EARLY GRAZING TO CONTROL KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS
Author
Patton, Bob D.
Neville, Bryan
Nyren, Anne C.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2015
Body

Early season intensive grazing is being tested as a means to control Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), an invasive grass species. Kentucky bluegrass is a perennial cool-season grass that begins growth in the spring earlier than our native species. Its forage quality is high in the spring but decreases through the season, resulting in reduced overall forage quality during the summer. Heavy grazing while Kentucky bluegrass is growing actively may shift the balance in the plant community to favor the native species. Each of six pastures was assigned to one of two treatments: early intensive and season-long grazing. On the early intensive grazing treatment the pastures were stocked as early as possible after Kentucky bluegrass greened up, around April 27th prior to the three-leaf stage and cattle were removed when 30 percent of the native species had received some grazing, around June 2nd. On the season-long treatment cattle were placed on pasture mid-May and removed mid-September. Frequency of occurrence, density and aerial cover of plant species were monitored using nested frames with 50 frames per pasture. Forage production and utilization were determined using the cage comparison method. While clipping plots at peak production, an estimate was made of species percentage by weight. Forage production was not significantly different between the early intensive and the season-long grazing treatments in 2011, 2012 or 2013 (P>0.05). Kentucky bluegrass aerial cover (P=0.001) and frequency of occurrence (P=0.003) declined on the early intensive treatment during this project, while aerial cover of Kentucky bluegrass increased (P=0.001) on the season-long treatment in 2012 and 2013. After three years, initial results indicate that early grazing can reduce Kentucky bluegrass aerial cover and frequency. Removing cattle before the native grasses and forbs have received significant grazing pressure should allow these species to increase in the community.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Sacramento, CA
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts