Russian wildrye nutritive quality as affected by accession and environment

Karn, J.F. and Mayland, H.F. and Berdahl, J.D. and Asay, K.H. and Jefferson, P.G. (2005) Russian wildrye nutritive quality as affected by accession and environment. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 85:125-133.

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Abstract

High-quality forage for spring and fall grazing is an important need of ranchers
in the Northern Great Plains and Intermountain-West regions of the United States of America and in the prairie provinces of Canada.
Russian wildrye [Psathyrostachys juncea (Fischer) Nevski] has been used to meet this grazing need, especially in Canada. However, its
use has probably been limited by its reputation for seedling establishment difficulties and scattered reports of grass tetany. The purpose
of this research was to characterize the variation in nutritive quality of Russian wildrye accessions used in a multi-location grass tetany
project, to access the effect of environment on quality components, and to determine the relationship between forage nutritive quality
components and entities associated with grass tetany. Sixty-seven Russian wildrye accessions from the US National Plant Germplasm
System were established in spaced-plant nurseries at Logan,UT, Mandan, ND, and Swift Current, SI(, Canada. Plants were sampled at
two stages of development over 2 yr. Location, year, and stage of development effects were significant (P < 0.01) for in vitro true dry
matter digestibility (IVDMD), crude protein (CP), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). At the early stages of development used in this
study the range in nutritive quality traits among entries was rather narrow. Relatively high positive correlation coefficients between K
and IVDMD, and K and CP suggest that breeding for higher nutritive quality may also produce a more tetany-prone forage, because high
K concentration is usually associated with grass tetany. On the other hand, Mg concentrations were also highly correlated with IVDMD
and CP, and higher Mg concentrations would be beneficial in preventing grass tetany. The K/(Mg + Ca) ratio, which has been suggested
as an indicator of grass tetany, was only moderately related to IVDMD, CP, and NDF.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	1147
Subjects:	Irrigated crops > Grass forage Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:49
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2016 16:44
Item ID:	8
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/8