Ernte- und Qualitätserträge einer simulierten Kurzrasen- und Koppelweide bei trockenheitsgefährdetem Dauergrünland

Continuous (CG) and rotational grazing (RG) are important strategies for pasture based organic milk production systems. This study tests both grazing systems on their suitability for permanent grassland areas with drought tendency. The investigation was carried out on an organic dairy farm in Lower Austria on a permanent pasture sward in 2010. Simulated grazed swards were used at an average sward height of 8.5 cm (CG) and 14.8 cm (RG). CG variant was cut 9 times and RG variant 6 times in 2010. Low precipitation periods showed an effect on CG by reducing grass growth. RG reached significant higher yields in dry matter (10,561 kg ha-1), net energy lactation (68,359 MJ ha-1) and crude protein (1,916 kg ha-1) as CG (7,753 kg DM ha-1, 52,792 MJ NEL ha-1 and 1,636 kg CP ha-1). Differences were also measured in energy and CP content. CG yielded highest energy and CP contents from June to August. Results of this study suggest that RG is more suitable at locations with drought tendency. However, implementation of RG requires good management to reach higher yields