Forage Allowance and Daily Gain Relationships on Rye-Ryegrass Pastures at Different Stocking Rates With Continuous and Rotational Stocking

‘Maton’ cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) and ‘TAM-90’ annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) are used for winter annual pastures to background stocker cattle in the southeastern US. Rye and ryegrass were sod-seeded into bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] pastures and fixed-stocked at different rates under continuous and 8-paddock rotation methods during each of 7 years to: 1) compare stocking methods for daily gain per animal (ADG) and gain/ha; and 2) quantify relationships of ADG with forage mass and forage allowance. Each of 3 levels of stocking rate, 4.9, 6.4, and 8.6 hd/ha, significantly affected ADG at 1.24, 1.04, and 0.74 kg/d, and gain/ha at 821, 991, and 794 kg/ha, respectively. There were no effects of stocking method on ADG at 1 kg/ha or gain/ha at 870 kg/ha. There was a 2-stage linear relationship for ADG and forage mass with the join point for maximum gain at 1850 kg/ha forage mass and 16 cm forage height. The 2-stage join point for forage allowance was 1.0 forage dry matter : animal body weight. The primary management strategy for rye + annual ryegrass pastures is that of stocking rate. During this 7-year period, stocker ADG ranged from 0.33 kg/d to 1.38 kg/d with gain/ha ranging from 388 kg/ha to 1291 kg/ha. Stocking strategies must be flexible with climatic changes to obtain optimum economic returns per unit land area. Rotational stocking method becomes a management choice to adjust forage mass options without expectations for increased ADG or gain/ha