Show Study Grass Growth to Learn Pasture Management ft Registered Angus Fatten on Kentucky SI Fescue and To practice good pasture ment you should understand how the more important forage plants Pasture like all are living They take In raw materials water and nutrients through the roots and transport through the stems to the leaves with the aid of sunlight and food is manufactured for life and These food products are then moved to all parts of the When the transportation of raw materials through the roots runs the manufacturing process is slowed down or ceases when leaves are reduced productive capacity is The life of pasture from germination of seed to old age and may extend over a few as in some or many as among many Most pasture plants are which have an advantage in that they can build up food reserves In their roots to be used for early growth the following The growth cycle of mountain brome has been carefully Primary growth begins before winter snow disappears and continues until the beginning of flower-stalk Active midsummer growth Includes flower-stalk and seed During this period leaf growth Is less but after seed ripening there Is en important secondary leaf The storage of food reserves and the beginning of bud development for the following year take place at this Dormancy begins with the drying up of seed stalks and I There are three periods of root growth which alternate with other plant The first occurs in spring after melting of the the second following flower and the third near the end of the In early reserve stored in the roots and the lower stems of perennials the previous fall are soon Further growth depends on plant food produced in the new Too early grazing of these leaves will weaken the If such grazing occurs for several the plant will starve and The most active development period of pasture grasses is from the time the flower stalk forms until the seeds are Immediately following and up to the time the seed stalks and leaves begin to dry the plant assimilates and stores most of its winter food Growth then depends on current food Since this depends on the greater the leafage the more food can be produced for use and If a pasture is grazed rather closely more than once during the the interval between such grazing periods must be sufficient for it to recover fully from each Each plant species has its particular place In the pasture association and holds that place as long cs the combination of factors affecting it is A vigorous pasture owes its existence to the soil and reasonably favorable toll conditions maintained by the plant If the stand of grasses and legumes has growing conditions are less favorable and the vegetative cover will show an invasion of On and semi-arid the spreading root systems of the perennial ses may be several true greater than above-ground stems and If bunch-grasses are as abundant as the normal toll moisture will such as on in good these fibrous roots Interlace between the tufts under what often appears to be bare toil This spreading root system helps to keep the top layer of soil mellow and por lous and facilitates in turn makes more I for |