Factors determining the sward utilisation of winter pasture in cattle feeding

In this review article, factors determining the sward utilisation of winter pasture in cattle feeding were defined and analyzed. The results from literature and own investigations have shown that yield and quality of autumn-saved herbage on winter pasture are determined by pratotechnical measures such as harvest date in winter and pre-utilisation date in summer, botanical composition of sward, and particularly the dominated grass species or community, nitrogen fertilisation and weather conditions in winter. The date of winter harvest as a dominating factor affects the development of dry matter yield as well as the digestibility of organic matter and nutrients concentration in herbage during winter. For the management of winter grazing systems it could be obtained that crude protein and energy concentration of the tested autumn-saved herbage met the requirements of suckler cows or beef cattle until the end of the year if they were pre-utilised in July. The weather conditions during autumn-winter period are important factor determining the accumulation of secondary metabolites formed by field fungi in herbage of winter pasture.