PERFORMANCE OF FOUR IRRIGATED PASTURE MIXTURES UNDER GRAZING BY SHEEP

Abstract

Four herbage mixtures with two levels of fertilizer application were compared for 6 consecutive years under grazing by sheep. The most satisfactory mixture with respect to yield, persistence, and stability was one of orchardgrass, Dactylis glomerata L., smooth bromegrass, Bromus inermis Leys., creeping red fescue, Festuca rubra L., and ladino clover, Trifolium repens L. The same mixture of grasses without clover was lower yielding even with annual applications of 78 pounds of nitrogen and 48 pounds of P2O5 per acre. A mixture of orchardgrass, tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea Schreb., reed canary grass, Phalaris arundinacea L., and alfalfa, Medicago sativa L. yielded well, and combated weed encroachment but the alfalfa did not persist beyond the third year. Tall fescue was very aggressive in this mixture. A mixture of orchardgrass and ladino clover yielded well for a few years but became badly infested with weeds as the orchardgrass was reduced through winter killing. Moderate yield increases were obtained from phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizer applications on all mixtures.