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Defoliation Regime Effects on Accumulated Season-long Herbage Yield and Quality in Boreal Grassland by N. T. Donkor; E. W. Bork; R. J. Hudson is a Agricultural and Biological Sciences article available to read on EtoBox.

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## Abstract Within boreal grasslands, little information exists on the effects of initial defoliation date, frequency, and intensity on accumulated herbage yield and quality. We investigated the effects of initial defoliation in May, June or July, at heights of 5, 10 or 15 cm, and repeated at 2‐, 4‐ or 6‐week intervals throughout the growing season. Harvested material was combined with year‐end residual biomass, and examined for herbage removed, crude protein (CP), crude protein yield (CPY) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF). Compared to single defoliated check plots, total, grass and forb dry matter (DM) yields were lower under repeated defoliation by 25, 38 and 17 %, respectively. The majority of total herbage produced was harvested in the spring clipping. Total, grass and forb DM yields peaked under moderate (10 cm) clipping. Total DM and grass biomass were maximized with long (6 week) recovery periods. In contrast, forb biomass was greatest with May defoliation followed by a 4‐week interval. While maximum grass CPY was found under 10‐cm defoliation, forb CPY peaked with early and moderate to intensive defoliation. These results indicate that season‐long herbage biomass, along wi

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Author

N. T. Donkor; E. W. Bork; R. J. Hudson

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons; Wiley (Blackwell Publishing); Blackwell Publishing Inc.; Wiley (ISSN 0931-2250)

Published

2003

Language

EN

Field

Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)