Year: 1976
Type: article
Abstract: The native grasses are not widely grown for cultivated pastures in the South but are important forage producers in the United States. Their responses to frequency of clipping are not widely known and appear to be significantly different from that of the introduced cultivars, Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum). The introduced species, however, are slow to initiate growth in the spring, and it appears that the forage program in the South could be improved significantly by grazing switchgrass before the summer perennials initiate growth. Haying at flowering and grazing following frost could utilize the switchgrass later in the summer. Pangburn switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a native species, tolerated one clipping during the season with little or no reduction in forage production, clonal survival, tiller number per clone, or tiller height. However, two or more clippings per season reduced all of the above. Over-utilization of switchgrass at the start of the season decreased the number of tillers and clones per plot and resulted in a serious weed problem.
Source: Journal of Range Management
DOI: 10.2307/3897409
Authors: E. R. Beaty, John D. Powell
Language: English
Subfield: Agronomy and Crop Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2513653753