Annual and seasonal dry matter production, botanical species composition, and nutritive value of multispecies, permanent pasture, and perennial ryegrass swards managed under grazing

Summary

Abstract Reduced reliance on inputs such as fertilizer is fundamental to sustainable grazing systems. This two‐year study compared four sward types, including multispecies swards (MSS), for herbage dry matter (DM) production, species contribution to DM, and herbage nutritive value under grazing. The systems were: (1) Lolium perenne L. monoculture (PRG; 170 kg N ha −1 year −1 ); (2) permanent pasture (PP; 135 kg N ha −1 year −1 ), (3) six species sward consisting of two grasses, two legumes and two herbs (6S; 70 kg N ha −1 year −1 ), (4) twelve species sward consisting of three grasses, four legumes and five herbs (12S; 70 kg N ha −1 year −1 ). Herbage samples were collected for DM yield, botanical composition, and nutritive value. Mean annual DM production for PRG, PP, 6S, and 12S was 11,3