Maximising Output of Beef Within Cost Efficient, Environmentally Compatible Forage Conservation Systems.

Abstract

A comprehensive research programme showed the potential benefits of replacing a productive old permanent grassland pasture dominated by indigenous species with new perennial or Italian ryegrass swards, when each was managed intensively, conserved as silage and fed to beef cattle. Ancillary experiments showed how the silage systems could be modified to improve productivity. However, they also showed that under a less intensive regime, replacing this old permanent pasture by ryegrass reseeds would be difficult to justify.