A Detailed Guide to Forage Grass Planting Techniques and Management Methods

Forage grass generally refers to grasses or other herbaceous plants used to feed livestock. Forage grass has strong regeneration capacity and can be harvested multiple times a year. It is rich in various trace elements and vitamins, thus becoming the first choice for raising livestock. The quality of forage grass varieties directly affects the level of economic benefits of the livestock industry, and attention must be paid to it.

The basic meaning of forage grass

Forage grass refers to plants cultivated as livestock feed. In a broad sense, forage grass includes green feed and crops. The conditions for being a good forage grass are preferably vigorous growth with tender grass quality, high yield per unit area, strong regeneration capacity, the ability to be harvested multiple times within a year, good palatability for livestock, and nutritional content rich in high-quality protein, appropriate amounts of phosphorus and calcium necessary for bone growth, and abundant vitamins. From this point of view, leguminous plants are preferable. After harvesting, it can be used as fresh grass (soiling grass), hay (hey), or silage (ensi- lage), or it can be directly grazed without harvesting. Grass family forage grasses include timothy, orchard grass, kentucky blue grass, fine wheat (proposed), fescue, palm leaf, foxtail, and others. Leguminous forage grasses include purple alfalfa, clover, three-leaf bean, vetch (wild pea for famine relief), chicken-eye grass, and others. Because it is in a fixed feed crop environment all year round, disease and pest control is relatively difficult.

Forage grass planting techniques

1. Selection of the pasture area

First, the area for planting forage grass should be relatively broad. In selecting the pasture area, a broad and flat area should be chosen, and the soil should be relatively fertile, deep, and well-drained, able to support the nutritional needs for dense growth and multi-season growth of forage grass. After determining the location of the pasture area, the land in the pasture area should be turned over once, which can make the soil looser and also distribute the nutrients in the soil more evenly.

2. Selection of forage grass

There are very many types of forage grass. The most important conditions for selection are good grass quality, high yield, the ability to be harvested in multiple seasons, strong vitality, high nutritional value for livestock, and improvement of livestock meat quality. Most are mainly leguminous crops, and there are also many crops to choose from, such as ryegrass, Mexican corn grass, imperial bamboo grass forage, sweet elephant grass forage, purple alfalfa, and many other varieties. However, fellow herdsmen should also choose forage grass according to conditions such as the climate and soil of the region where their own farm is located.

3. Maintenance of forage grass

After fellow herdsmen have selected the pasture area and forage grass, they should choose the amount of forage grass according to the size of the pasture area. After planting the forage grass in the soil, maintenance must be carried out. Because the growth of forage grass needs to supply livestock for multiple seasons, fertilization of the forage grass should be increased during ordinary maintenance to increase the growth rate of the forage grass. In addition, in summer the weather is relatively hot and water evaporation is vigorous, so watering of the forage grass should be increased. In addition, diseases and pests of forage grass should also be prevented and treated.

Finally, when the forage grass matures, grazing or harvesting should be carried out in a timely manner, so as to allow the new season of growth of the forage grass and also ensure the tenderness and sufficient nutrition of the forage grass.