Annual or perennial forage grasses are valuable crops that are grown for animal feed. They are distinguished by good productivity, nutritional value and have a very important and versatile value in strengthening the food supply. They are grown on green fodder, silage, haylage, hay, grass meal and as pasture crops.
Feed grass is a valuable feed because it contains proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, various vitamins and minerals, which are so necessary for the normal development and growth of animals. Its economic importance depends on the nutritional value, yield, livestock consumption, as well as prevalence in different regions.
Types of Feed Grass
In our country, more than 80 species of this crop are cultivated, and about 5,000 grow on natural lands.
All forage grasses are divided into 4 groups:
- legumes;
- cereals;
- sedge;
- forbs.
By the longevity of life, forage grass can be annual and perennial.
Legume family
Bean fodder grass on the forage lands of our country is found in small quantities, but has sufficiently high fodder properties: the culture is rich in protein and is eaten perfectly by animals. The most widespread are clover (red, white, pink), horned lamb, yellow alfalfa, meadow rank, etc.
Family of grasses
This group is widespread in almost all zones (except the desert) and gives most of the pasture feed or hay (often up to 80-90%). Most cereals have a high feed value, especially in their young state. During haying during drying, these herbs retain well leaves, which are the most valuable parts. The most widespread cereals such as feather grass, creeping wheatgrass, pinworm, etc.
Sedge forage grasses
This group of herbs includes plants from the families of russet and sedge. These crops are considered to be of little value in terms of food and are poorly eaten by animals, but in the northern regions of the forest zone they often make up the bulk of hay (sedge, sedge, and others). And in the desert and semi-desert, many sedges are a valuable fodder plant.
Forbs
This group includes all other botanical plant families. Forbs - meadow grasses, which sometimes can make up to 60-70% of the grass stand. Most of them are of great economic importance. Plants from this group are more nutritious than cereals, but most of them are eaten much worse by animals due to the bitter taste, prickly, pubescence, etc. The low content of forbs (cuffs, dandelion, caraway seeds, etc.) in the grass (up to 20%) - a desirable impurity, as it helps to improve the mineral composition of the feed and its eatability by cattle.
A large number of herbs of this group in grassy hay use is extremely undesirable, because:
- it displaces the more valuable legumes and cereals;
- Among the herbs, there are many weed (field bindweed, sow thistle yellow, etc.) and poisonous (poisonous ranunculus, hellebore, poisonous milestone, aconite, etc.) plants.
Annual grass feed
The peculiarity of annual forage grasses is that their development cycle ends within a year, and they die. Sown to obtain greenery for feeding, silage, as well as to obtain concentrated feed. Annual herbs give high yields of green mass, have a sufficiently high nutritional value, have a short growing season.
Due to the fact that the mowing ripeness of plants occurs in about 50-60 days, these crops are indispensable in intermediate crops, in a busy couple.
Annual herbs are divided into two types:
- legumes;
- bluegrass (cereal).
Annual bean fodder crops are sown in early spring. The most valuable plants are spring and winter vetch, rank, fodder lupine, seradella.
Annual cereal grasses are more thermophilic, they are planted in well-heated soil for sowing early spring crops. The most valuable are: Sudanese grass, mogar, sorghum, annual ryegrass, chumiza, African millet and others.
Perennial grass feed
Perennial forage grasses are grassy sowing plants with a lifespan of more than one year. Grown to feed livestock.
The culture includes more than 50 species of plants. They are sown most often in the form of a grass mixture, which has a positive effect on feed quality and soil fertility. Clean crops are also sown and cultivated pastures created outside crop rotation.
In the first year of life, perennial grasses develop quite slowly, overgrow with weeds and can produce low yields. Therefore, they are recommended to be sown after cereal or row crops, in fertilized with compost or manure soil.
Perennial grasses forage are also divided into:
- Bluegrass (cereal). The most common: timothy grass, bonfire bonfire, pasture ryegrass, wheatgrass, tall ryegrass, meadow bluegrass, multi-beed ryegrass, rootless grass, national team hedgehog, white polewort, meadow and red fescue, foxtail and others.
- Legumes: alfalfa, white clover, red clover, pink clover, sainfoin, horned lamb.
To create a highly productive grass stand, it is necessary to perform the main agrotechnical methods of cultivating the crop.
Goatskin
The goatskin belongs to the perennial herbaceous plant of the legume family. The stalk is branched erect, usually reaches 1 m in height, and on fertile soils it can grow up to 1.5 m. The root system has a rod type, grows up to 80 cm in depth. On the main root several offspring are formed. First, they develop horizontally up to 30 cm, then they emerge and form new stems.
The leaves of the plant are unpaired petiolate, up to 30 cm long.
Goatskin is a grass fodder with pale purple or blue flowers, similar to bells, which are collected in brush inflorescences. On each stem they can be formed 3-5 pieces. Fruiting occurs in September-October. Beans are small in size (2-4 cm in length), dark orange, almost brown, in fruits of 3-7 seeds. Goatskin is characterized by rather slow growth, and if it does not grow 20 cm in height before autumn, its harvest is most often transferred to the next year.
Seeds are able to maintain germination qualities up to 8 years.
Goatskin is a fairly frost-resistant plant that can tolerate even very severe winters.
There are 2 known species of this plant: Eastern goat ( forage grass ) and medicinal.
Annual ryegrass
A very valuable fodder plant that provides benign green food and hay. The green mass contains 3.2% protein, 2.3% protein, 8% fiber. Livestock eats it willingly, in addition, it is a good top dressing for poultry. The hay of annual ryegrass is not inferior in nutritional value to hay from mogar, Sudan grass and other cereal crops. Animals eat straw well. The annual yield of hay is about 7-8 t / ha, green mass is up to 20-30 t / ha, and seeds are 0.5-0.6 t / ha.
Annual ryegrass has a high dropout rate, during the growing season gives 2-3 mowing. After the second mowing, the growing aftermath can be used as pasture feed until the deepest autumn, since it tolerates small autumn frosts well.
Donnik
This is an unpretentious one-year or two-year bean crop that can grow on the poorest, sandy, stony and clay soils, as well as in those areas where there is no fertile layer. The clover plant is not afraid of saline and solonetzic soils, but it does not tolerate acidic swampy and swimming heavy lands, with a close location of groundwater. The root system is powerful and well developed, thanks to which this grass is able to give a good crop in arid zones where other forage crops burn out. With a sufficient amount of rain, the yield of green mass can reach up to 7-8 t / ha.
The clover plant is successfully used not only for food, but also for green manure.
Seeds germinate at temperatures from 2 to 50 ° C, seedlings can withstand frosts of -6 ...- 5 ° C, and some frost-resistant biennial varieties are not afraid of frost up to 40 ° C.
Sweet clover is a valuable high-protein fodder plant, which is not inferior in nutrition to clover, alfalfa and sainfoin. It can often be found in meadows, vacant lots, roadsides.
This drought-resistant, frost-resistant and resistant to diseases and pests plant suitable for greens, silage and harvesting hay. It can be grown both in grass mixtures and independently.
Clover white
It grows well on sandy, loamy slightly acidic or neutral soils. In the first year, grass (clover) is able to bloom and produce seeds. In the second year of life, full development begins. In one place it can grow up to 9-10 years.
Grass (clover) is moisture- and sun-loving, frost-resistant. It grows best in regions with a humid cool climate, where there is no drought.
Sowing white clover is an excellent fodder plant that contains a lot of protein. The trampling by cattle during grazing does not depress the plant, but, on the contrary, contributes to its better growth. Planting this bean crop improves soil fertility. Its inclusion in the composition of grass mixtures with timothy, ryegrass and other plants improves the feed quality of pasture grass - it increases the content of protein, phosphorus, fat, calcium, potassium and reduces fiber. The yield of green mass in the meadows is about 60-120 kg / ha, hay about 18-35 kg / ha, seeds 3.0-5.0 kg / ha.
Alfalfa
This is a perennial grass fodder of the legume family. It is used both as green fodder and to produce high-quality hay. Alfalfa seeds are also used for medicinal purposes. Culture improves soil structure, and enriches the soil with nitrogen, destroys weeds . It is characterized by high drought tolerance and winter hardiness. In the herbage can last up to 10 years and even more. After mowing, it grows slowly.
This grass feed prefers black soil, forest-steppe loam, brown and chestnut gray soils and other lime-rich soils. Alfalfa does not grow well on swampy and heavy clay soils.
This plant contains many vitamins and protein. It is well digested by herbivores. Alfalfa seeds are sown both in pure form and as a mixture.