Variation of Herbage Intake (HI) from Upland Pasture, as Influenced by the Grazing Initiation Date (GID)

Studies were conducted on an experimental pasture belonging to the Arrhenatherethum medioeur. and Lolio-Cynosureth. assoc. with D. glomerata, L. perenne and T. repens as main species, at an altitude of 680 m. Four equally sized paddocks (0.3 ha) were grazed by 10 Charolais heifers. The differences in total herbage dry matter intake (HDMI) between the four paddocks with different grazing initiation dates (GID) were significant (P \u3c 0.05). The results of this experiment show that in order to achieve a higher HDMI and better herbage utilization an earlier initiation of grazing is recommended. That is, grazing should commence when the sward height is about 15 cm