Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Rude, Brian J.

Committee Member

Ryan, Peter L.

Committee Member

Ward, Stephanie R.

Date of Degree

5-11-2013

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Animal Nutrition

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional profile of mono- or multi-species pastures of native warm season grasses. One of four treatments were randomly assigned to Twelve pastures: 1) BG; 2) IG; 3) Mix G; 4) Mix NG. Growing steers (n = 225) were randomly assigned to one of nine pastures. Grass samples were taken from all pastures every 28 days during a four-month period and were analyzed for nutrient composition. Bermudagrass pastures had greater crude protein and ADF, but less NDF concentrations compared with the native warm-season grasses. Crude protein, IVDMD, and NDF IVDMD concentration decreased while NDF, ADF, and Hemicellulose concentration increased as grasses matured. Steers grazing IG and Mix G pastures gained more weight and consumed more forage than those on BG pastures. It appears that native warm-season grasses may offer a viable alternative to BG for grazing cattle during the summer.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20523

Comments

Nutritional profile||native warm-season grass||mono- or multi-species

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