Digestibility, perloline content, and year-round production of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea schreb) as influenced by soil fertility and stock-piling schemes

Author

Richard Warren Loveland

Date of Award

3-1976

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences

Major Professor

Henry A. Fribourg

Committee Members

John H. Reynolds, James B. McLaren, Karl M. Barth

Abstract

The in vitro digestible dry matter (DDM), perloline content, yield, and chemical composition of Kentucky 31 tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), grown on an Etowah clay loam soil, were determined in two experiments involving various fertility and stockpiling management practices. The chemical composition included analyses for NO₃-N, N, P, K, Mg, and Ca. Samples also were taken to determine the percent dry matter. Nitrogen fertilization rates were 0, 50, 63, 125, and 250 kg of N/ha, applied from one to seven times per year, depending on the rate. Phosphorus and K rates, when applied, were 30 kg of P and 60 kg of K/ha. Stockpiling schemes consisted of spring, summer, late summer, fall, and spring/fall stockpiling periods. Nitrogen fertilization increased the yield and the contents of perloline, NO₃-N, N, and K of tall fescue forage. High rates of N fertilization increased the DDM of tall fescue. Nitrogen fertilization decreased the percent dry matter and had variable effects on the P, Ca, and Mg contents. Phosphorus and K fertilization had little effect on any of the variables analyzed. Spring stockpiling resulted in the highest yields of the stockpiling schemes. The summer regrowth after spring stockpiling was higher in DDM and content of perloline, N, and K than the continuously clipped fescue. Fall stockpiling resulted in lower yields than the other schemes. Stockpiled forage was lower in DDM and content of N and P, but variable in contents of K, Mg, and Ca. Nitrogen fertilization was the only variable that increased the perloline content other than the increase observed in the regrowth after spring stockpiling. The higher levels of perloline did not affect DDM.

Recommended Citation

Loveland, Richard Warren, "Digestibility, perloline content, and year-round production of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea schreb) as influenced by soil fertility and stock-piling schemes. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1976.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/7903