Detailed Explanation of the Key Points of Forage Grass Planting Technology for Small-Tailed Han Sheep
The Small-Tailed Han sheep is a mutton-and-fur dual-purpose sheep breed in China, a herbivorous livestock species of the subfamily Caprinae in the family Bovidae, and forage grass makes up a large proportion of its feed types. In the raising of Small-Tailed Han sheep, besides using some crop straw as its forage, you can also plant some forage grasses to feed them. Let us take a look below at the forage grass planting technology for Small-Tailed Han sheep!
Types of Forage Grass Varieties
There are many kinds of forage grasses for Small-Tailed Han sheep. In botanical classification there are Poaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Amaranthaceae, Cyperaceae, and so on. At present, the vast majority of forage grasses mainly planted are legume and grass-family forages. Legume forages are annual or perennial herbs with a taproot system; the main root is thick and strong and penetrates relatively deep into the soil, and root nodules often grow on the roots, which can fix nitrogen from the air and also have a soil-improving effect. They contain more crude protein, calcium and carotene, have relatively high nutritional value, and can replace part of the concentrate feed, but some contain saponins, which can easily cause bloat when fed fresh or grazed. Their stems and leaves dry unevenly, the leaves fall off easily, and making hay is relatively difficult. In addition, they are not suitable for ensiling alone and are best ensiled mixed with grass-family forages. Grass-family forages are annual or perennial herbs with a fibrous root system; they have many growth points and strong grazing tolerance, their stems and leaves dry at a uniform rate, and the leaves do not fall off easily, making them suitable for making hay. They contain more carbohydrates and are suitable for ensiling.
Pre-Sowing Land Preparation for Forage Grass
Forage grass for Small-Tailed Han sheep, like crops, can achieve high yields only with intensive cultivation. Most forage grass seeds are very small and weak in pushing through the soil, and the seedlings grow slowly at the seedling stage, so pre-sowing land preparation is the key to good and complete emergence of seedlings. The main measures of pre-sowing land preparation are plowing, harrowing and rolling. Under normal circumstances, for previously cultivated land, the furrow can be broken and ridges closed with a plow and then sowing can be done directly, while for virgin land or plots with compacted soil, a tractor must be used for deep plowing of 20-25 cm. It is even better if decomposed farmyard manure and slow-release phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied. After plowing, harrowing and rolling must be carried out (with a disc harrow and a roller) to break up large clods of soil, make the surface soil firm and the soil layer level, which helps preserve soil moisture and creates good soil conditions for sowing, emergence and growth and development of the forage grass.
Sowing Methods for Forage Grass
1. Sowing time: In years with good moisture conditions in spring, or on plots with irrigation conditions, spring sowing can be used; otherwise, sowing is generally carried out when the summer rains come, but no later than early July, so as to help the seedlings overwinter safely. Overall, it should be determined according to comprehensive factors such as forage grass variety, soil and moisture.
2. Seed treatment: Before sowing forage grass seeds, the seeds need to be treated to increase the germination rate, and rhizobium inoculation should also be carried out. Grass-family seeds need to be de-awned. For hard seeds, treatment generally uses a rice milling machine or stone roller to rub the seeds and scratch the seed coat to facilitate water absorption. De-awning can be done by rolling with a de-awning machine or a roller. For rhizobium seed dressing, you can buy rhizobium inoculant for seed dressing, or collect root nodules of the same type of forage grass, air-dry them, crush them, and mix them into the seeds.
3. Sowing method: Sowing methods can use drilling, hole sowing, broadcasting and seedling transplanting. Drilling has a relatively fast sowing speed, uniform sowing depth and neat emergence, and is convenient for intertillage, weeding and fertilization and other field management. On hillside land with engineering measures, hole sowing can be used, such as planting grass in bamboo-joint trenches and fish-scale pits, and it is also suitable for planting grass on steeper slopes. Broadcasting is used when the grass-planting area is relatively large, using a reseeding machine or aircraft. Seedling transplanting is generally suitable for forage grass varieties with relatively tall plants, and can be used when the planting area is small or manpower is sufficient.
4. Sowing quantity: The sowing quantity should be determined according to factors such as the biological characteristics of the forage grass, its use (for grass harvest or seed collection), seed size, quality, soil fertility, land preparation quality, sowing period and the climatic conditions at sowing time.
5. Sowing depth: The sowing depth should allow the seeds to contact moist soil, and after covering with soil, water should not evaporate. Because most grass seeds are small and weak in pushing through the soil, the covering should not be too deep; generally 2-3 cm is appropriate. The principles can be followed that large seeds should be sown deeper and small seeds shallower, loose soil deeper and heavy clay soil shallower, dry soil deeper and wet soil shallower, and spring drought deeper and summer rainy season shallower.
Field Management of Forage Grass
1. Pulling weeds and weeding: Forage grass grows slowly at the seedling stage and is often overwhelmed by weeds. Weeding can be carried out by pulling weeds, hoeing and row cultivation, and it is better to do it early than late. Generally, after the forage grass closes its rows, the weeds lose their competitiveness.
2. Reasonable irrigation: Grass-family forages from tillering to flowering, and legume forages from budding to before flowering, have a large water requirement, and this is the main irrigation period. For forage grass cut multiple times a year, irrigation should be carried out promptly after each cutting. Irrigation should also be carried out during the dog days and when drought is severe. Irrigating once with winter water before winter is beneficial for the forage grass to overwinter safely and to turn green and grow in early spring of the following year.
3. Timely fertilization: In addition to applying base fertilizer at sowing, forage grass should be fertilized after each cutting, and this can also be done in combination with intertillage and irrigation. Grass-family forages are mainly given nitrogen fertilizer. Because legume forages have nitrogen-fixing ability, except for applying a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer at the seedling stage, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be the main ones in other periods.
4. Disease and pest control: Forage grass has relatively strong resistance to diseases and pests, and the occurrence of diseases and pests is less than in field crops. The control method should follow the policy of “prevention first, comprehensive control”, and strengthen work such as seed quarantine and agricultural control.
5. Cold protection management: In relatively cold areas, some forage grass varieties have difficulty overwintering, so cold protection should be carried out before winter. The main method is to run a plow over the field once before winter so that soil covers the roots of the forage grass, which generally can achieve the effect of preventing freezing injury.
6. Cutting and utilization: Forage grass cut at the right time can be fed fresh, or dried into hay and ensiled, to be used when feed is lacking in winter and spring. Forage grass at different growth stages has different yields, and quality also differs greatly. To determine the optimal cutting period, you cannot base it solely on yield, nor only look at quality, but should combine the two, and it must be decided according to the yield of nutrients per unit area.