The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 9:20 AM

Evaluation of Warm Season Perennial Grasses for Biomass, Seasonal Distribution and Grazing Preference

James K. Rogers, James W. Pitman, Frank J. Motal, and Chan Glidewell. Agricultural Division, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401

Beginning in 2004, fourteen introduced and native warm season perennial grasses were evaluated for yield, yield distribution and quality.  Grasses were harvested when they reached the boot stage of reproductive development resulting in a range of cuttings from 2-4 per year dependent upon species and a separation of species by yield and yield distribution. Alamo switchgrass, a variety touted for its biofuel potential, had the highest 2004-2005 average yield of 15800 lbs/ac. In 2006, a drought year, plots were harvested once and Alamo remained in the highest statistical grouping yielding 7091 lbs/ac.  Quality of the entries has been very similar. In the summer of 2007 three 600 pound stocker steers were grazed across entries in two grazing cycles and bite counts were recorded to determine grazing preference.  Yield, quality, color, plant height, vegetative stage, and leaf to stem ratios for each entry were determined prior to grazing.  Grazing cycles began on June 6 and July 16. Steers grazed each replicate in succession until each was grazed twice resulting in a six day cycle.  Daily grazing began at 6:30 a.m. and terminated when steers began rumination or laid down.  In cycle one; Alamo switchgrass was preferred over other entries (P < 0.05) with an average of 1591 bites.  In cycle 2 Alamo switchgrass was a preferred species but there was no statistical difference in average bite count from Johnsongrass or Midland 99 bermudagrass.  Total bite counts recorded in the study was 46841 with Alamo switchgrass numbering over 9000 and Johnsongrass second at over 6000.  Blackwell switchgrass was in the second highest bite count grouping over both grazing cycles. These data indicate that switchgrass has potential for grazing and biofuel production.