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Influence of Forage Species and Creep Grazing on a Cow-Calf System. II. Calf Production^1,2,3,

West Virginia University, Morgantown 26506

Abstract

To assess the effects of creep grazing and forage species on cow-calf production, we placed 36 cow-calf units on replicated pasture treatments for 2 consecutive yr. Treatments consisted of (1) Kentucky 31 tall fescue (Fescue), (2) predominantly bluegrass and white clover (Native) and (3) a pasture divided by means of a creep gate, with a bluegrass-white clover section available to the calves only and Fescue available to both cows and calves (Fescue-Creep). Cows had average losses of 13, 22 and 13 kg of body weight for the Native, Fescue-Creep and Fescue treatments respectively; differences were not significant. On the Native, Fescue-Creep and Fescue pastures, the cows had average milk productions of 6.1, 4.8 and 5.1 kg/d with higher (P<.10) production on the Native pastures. During both years, milk production peaked from May to June for the cows on the Fescue treatment, probably because of lower forage consumption by their calves. The 205-d adjusted weights of the calves on the Native, Fescue-Creep and Fescue treatments were 211, 193 and 182 kg, respectively, with average daily gain highest (P<.10) for calves on the Native pastures and lowest (P<.10) for those on the Fescue treatments. Results of this and a prior study suggest that the superiority of the Native treatment over the Fescue-Creep in supporting calf average daily gain was due to enhanced milk production of the cows, while the superiority of the Fescue-Creep over the Fescue treatment was due to increased forage consumption by the calves. As a percentage of the total metabolizable energy consumed, milk represented over 50% in the spring (June) and 20% of the total in the fall (October). Average forage availabilities were 3,254 6,222 and 4,914 kg DM/pasture for the Native, Fescue and Fescue-Creep treatments in 1978, and 2,838, 7,387 and 5,140 kg in 1979, suggesting that higher stocking rates might have been possible on the Fescue and Fescue-Creep pastures. if the forage accumulated by weaning had been used to support provided 17,159 and 112 additional cow grazing days, respectively, on the Native, Fescue and Fescue-Creep treatments.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the West Virginia Agr. and Forestry Exp. Sta. as Scientific Paper No. 1703.

² The authors acknowledge the assistance of Dr. W. V. Thayne in the statistical analysis of the data.

³ Division of Anim. and Vet. Sci.

⁴ Present address: Dept. of Dairy Sci., Univ. of Illinois, Urbana 61801.