The diurnal cycling of sugars in grasses impact strip-graze management plans

El Ciclaje Diurno de Azucares Impactan los Planes de Manejo en Pastoreo Hasta Agotar

Mayland, H.F. and MacAdam, J.W. and Shewmaker, G.E. and Chatterton, N.J. (2003) The diurnal cycling of sugars in grasses impact strip-graze management plans. pp. 466-468. In: Proc. Second National Conference on Grazing Lands. USA-TN-Nashville, 2003/12/07-10.

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Abstract

Soluble sugar concentrations increase in forage plants during the day and decrease at
night. The objective of this study was to quantify the sugar concentrations in the upper
and lower parts of the grass canopy at the end of a light and subsequent dark period and
relate these changes in animal grazing behavior and production responses. Tall fescue
(Festuca arundinacea) grown in controlled-environment chambers was cut after a 15-h
light and a subsequent 9-h dark period, and tillers were separated into leaves and stems.
Leaves, but not stems, demonstrated diurnal fluctuation in sugars. Leaf sugars
concentrations, after 15-h of light, were 1.6 times greater than those in leaves following
the 9-h dark period. It is suggested that animal production may benefit from afternoon
vs. morning turnout onto fresh pastures because of the extra sugars accumulating in the
leaves during the day.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
NWISRL Publication Number:	1129
Additional Information:	CD-ROM
Subjects:	Irrigated crops > Grass forage > Time-of-day harvest difference Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:56
Last Modified:	03 Nov 2016 16:18
Item ID:	950
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/950