Grassland Management Systems (152069)

Upon completion of the module students are able to recognize different grass and clover species, to plan on-farm grazing system, to recomend grass clover mixtures, to determine the optimal phase of plant phenological phase for harvesting and for grazing, to choose the appropriate technology for forage conservation and can understand the analytical report of the produced forage.

• Lectures
  mostly held at the experimental Grassland Research Station on Medvednica mount which is about 40km away from the Faculty where the students receive transportation to.
• Laboratory practice/exercises
  include an introduction to forage sampling and laboratory equipment used for the determination of forage basic chemical composition by wet chemistry or by NIR spectroscopy. Students become familiar with the basic chemical parameters determined in the lab and their influence on forage nutritive value. Student is asked to analyze a couple of forage samples by NR spectroscopy and to read the analytical report.
• Field work
  include a tour around the experimental Grassland Research Station which enables students to detect certain forage types, to understand current grassland experiments, to see the field equipment and machinery used for forage conservation and feeding with en emphasis on big bale haylage production.
• Seminars
  throughout the semester, the student is obligated to make the seminar and present it during lectures. The seminar covers 4 pages written in the World and 10-15 minutes of power point presentation.

Teachers' obligations

Teachers are expected to keep records on the class attendence, to keep students informed on the planned activities, to explaine all the the topics involved in the class, to specify seminar topics on time, to discuss more topics on the students' interest, to prepare writing exams and to evaluate students work throught semester.

Students' obligations

The student should regularly attend classes, meet the obligations throught the semester and successfully pass seminar work, writing exams and the final exam.

1. Course introduction, meadow & pasture description and economy for animal production - Definition of ‘grassland’ and description of meadows and pastures; classification of natural and introduced, importance in terms of hectarage and productivity and their economy for animal production.
2. Adaptation and use of forage grasses and legumes - Adaptation and use of forage grasses and legumes for pasture/conserved feed, physiological attributes of forage species, ecophysiological adaptations of species to prevailing environmental and managerial factors; required agro-technology
3. Grass and legume mixtures - Grass-legume mixtures for mowing, grazing, combined utilization.
4. Meadow management systems - Establishment and fertilization: methods of seeding, renovation and rejuvenation; inoculation, companion planting, weed control; mowing (plant maturity stage, height, frequency). Sward lifespan: management and maintenance practices.
5. Grass and legume production on meadows - Green and conserved forage management: hay & silage, production systems; timing, processing and storage.
6. Pasture management systems - Establishment and fertilization: methods of seeding, renovation and rejuvenation; inoculation, companion planting, weed control. Sward lifespan: management and maintenance practices. Managed grazing systems; balancing seasonal variations in supply and demand; utilization efficiency. Effects of grazing animals on pastures.
7. G Grazing management - Pastures utilization by grazing & combined pasture utilisation (mowing & grazing). An estimate of available forage (deciding when to move animals to a fresh paddock), pasture stocking rate.
8. Grazing management - Grazing methods (continuous and rotational stocking, strip grazing, creep grazing, forward creep grazing, limit grazing).
9. On-farm grazing plan - Fencing (types of fences, posts, length of lanes, gates), corridors, watering points, shadows, salting points. Paddock size, location and arrangement, on-farm grazing plan.
10. Nutritive value of forages from meadows & pastures - Indices of forage quality; determinants of intake; digestibility; nutrient content; changes with maturity and with time in season; anti-quality factors; quality relative to nutritive demand of different class of livestock. Chemical, physical and biological methods for forage evaluation and the interpreting forage
11. Remote sensing in forage evaluation - Application of remote sensing techniques in forage evaluation
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1. Hopkins, A. (ed) (2000) Grass its production and utilization, Blackwell Science.
2. Ball, D.M., Hoveland, C.S., Lacefield, G.D. (2002.): Southern Forages. Third edition. Published by the Potash & Phosphate Institute (PPI), Georgia, USA.
3. Barnes, R.F., (ed) (2007) Forages- the science of grassland agriculture, Blackwell Publishing
4. Cherney, J.H. i Cherney, D.J.R. (1998) Grass for Dairy Cattle, CABI Publishing

1. Lemaire, G. (ed.) (2000) Grassland Ecophysiology and Grazing Ecology, CABI Publishing
2. Frame, J. (ed.) (1988) Efficient beef production from grass (odabrana poglavlja) BGS publication
3. Davies, A., Baker, R. D., Grant, S. A. and Laidlaw, A. S. (ed.) (1998) Sward measurement handbook BGS publication
4. Cherney, J. H. and Cherney, D. J. R. (ed.) (1998) Grass for dairy cattle, CABI publishing
5. Whitehead, D. C. (2000) Nutrient elements in grassland: soil-plant-animal relationships, CABI Publishing
6. Hodgson, J.( ed.) (1998) The Ecology and Management of Grazing Systems, CABI Publishing
7. Tow, P. (ed.) (2001) Competition and Succession in Pastures, CABI Publishing

• Grassland Science, University of Wageningen