Grassland Managment - common on farm grasses in the UK

8/17/2019 Grassland Managment - common on farm grasses in the UK

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Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)

Large dark green plant that has long hairless leaf blades. Its shoots at the bottom

of the plant are red, it has attened spikelet’s on opposite sides of the stem

which are awnless unlike Italian ryegrass. It has a good digestibility alue and

high feed alue. It is the most persistent ryegrass type and is the most widely

used. It has a lower yield than Italian ryegrass but it is more ersatile as it can be

used in silage, hay, hayliage and gra!ing to good e"ect. #hey usually last around

$%& years. #hey tend to grow ery upright which makes it suited for silage

making

'ocksfoot (dactylis

glomerata)

course looking grass

with a blueish%green

colour. It has rough broad

sharply pointed leaes.

#he small attened

spikelets are held in

oalfan shapedcon*guration, they get

their name from what the

heads look like when

splayed out (a chicken’s

foot).

#his grass has some of the deepest roots, it does

+uite well on dry free draining soils. #his grass gies

the bene*ts of +uick recoery after gra!ing or

cutting. oweer its +uick growth will become a

problem if it is not gra!ed hard to remain leafy.

-therwise it will become course, clumpy and ery

as thin

sharplypointed

leaes with

pikelets hae nostem, they are

attened against

the stem and are

arranged opposite

each otheras small auricles

if any and short

/mm tall li ules

light purple colour at

0ibrous roots

#iller

pikelets


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unpalatable. It’s not a ery good grass choice for long term lays as it can become

unusable to liestock if not managed well but it can last for around $ years.

#imothy (Phleum pratense)

#his grass is a tall type of grass often

recognised easily for its cat tail%like head

shape. Its leaes are rolled into the bud,

young leaes are soft and hairless.

It is +uite a useful grass due to its cold

resistance and the fact it’s one of theearliest grasses to grow during mid spring

and remain in a palatable leafy state until

late 1une. It is well suited for hay

production and gra!ing howeer it yields

aren’t ery high.

It grows in abundance on heay soils, but

will still persist well on light soils in dry times

howeer it has a shallow root structure. It

is ery persistent and bene*ts from good

disease resistance.

Italian rye grass (Lolium miltiorum)

0ibrous

roots

eed

0ibrous

roots


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Italian ryegrass is similar to perennial

ryegrass, but is generally taller, has awns on

its spikelet’s and only lasts for two years. It is

a fast growing stout grass, with fewer tillers

than other arieties which makes it more

suited to cutting than gra!ing. It is a ery highyielding grass with reliable yields of around

/2tons a hectare.

3orkshire fog (olcus lanatus)

It is a perennial grass which is usually recognised

due to its feathery ower heads. #he leaf sheaths

hae pinky%red stripes around the base.

It’s usually thought of as a weed in lowland areas

and in arable areas due to its tendency to

dominate areas +uickly by rapidly spreading

seeds, it also becomes +uite unpalatable when

mature so can be a hassle for gra!ers. It has good

mineral content but lacks high 45. it also is

possible to cause allergic reactions around theeyes of gra!ing cattle.

5eadow 0escue (0estuca Pratensis)


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long duration grass that is commonly sown with

timothy to proide hay or gra!ing, it can be used as a

substitute to prg in upland areas where prg wouldn’t

do so well due to the more hostile conditions. It is

also drought tolerant and grows well in most habitats

but it has a slower establishment time.

6hite cloer (#rifolium repens)

6hite cloer is usually recognised when

owering for its prominent white owers. It

can be di7cult to recognise out of ower

unless you look at its roots which are *nerthan red cloers. It is a useful addition to a

*eld due to its higher feed alue than grass

(higher protein, digestibility etc8) and its

ability to increase feed intake in liestock.

Its main negatie is that it tends to cause

bloat in animals which means you shouldn’t

hae it around in e9cessie amounts.

6eeds

:road%leaed dock (;ume9 obtusifolius)

4ocks are weeds due to the fact they reduce the yield of a *eld +uite signi*cantly, a dock plant will

only gie about >> seeds which can remain dormant and iable for around 2> years.


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pear thistle ('irsium ulgare)

#histles can be a

ma?or problem due to the many negatie

they bring with them, they aren’t really

eaten by animals due to their thorns, they

can grow to a ery large si!e taking up

aluable gra!ing land, their thorns can lead

to fast transmissions of disease like orf. If

not cut before it owers due to its large

amounts of seeds it will spread rapidly. It’s

a biennial weed and has a ery deep

taproot.

#hick stem with

some purple

'lusters of small owers

Large broad leaes with

heart shaped leaf bottom

they tend to be +uite


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'hickweed (tellaria media)

'hickweed is the most common

weed found in grasslays, it has some

bene*cial charicteristics of haing

high mineral leels such as calcium, magnesium, !inc, itamin c etc8 howeer it

competes aggressiely with grass and can lead to an oerall reduced yield up to

@&= it also has a tendency to grow in bare swards.

.

;agwort

(enecio ?acobaea)

common hairless

:iennial ;agwort

can be particularly

dangerous to stock due to the fact its poisonous especially horses. It won’t be

harmful in small amounts to liestock and animals will tend not to eat it unlessthere is no other alternatie its most dangerous when its consumed in small

#a root #he spined

leaes tend to be

in groups of three

a art from the

ike win s on

Purple oret with spiky

(boe) 0lowering plant.

Large sharp spines on

the ends of the leaes

#he underside of the wings and the stem are

+uiet hairy and there are small spines going

(boe left and middle) drawing and photo of one

of the spikey wings that come o" the stem.

Arows in dense low growing

mounds generally not growing

#he ower is commonlymistaken for haing /> petals

but it is actually ?ust & petals

lightly pointed oalshaped leaes

usually around 2mm

in length. #he leaes

hae a prominent

#iny *e

petalled

white owers

0ragile

*brous


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amounts regularly or a large amount in a short period, if this happens it will be

too much for the animals lier to handle. It will tend to spread in bare or oer

gra!ed ground.

'reeping :uttercup (;anunculus repens)

:uttercup is identi*ed by its characteristic yellow owers is a ery common

weed in pastures, it has stolon’s which means it spreads oer a wide area oer a

fast rate potentially leading it to coer wide areas of land. 0inancially it can be a

huge problem due to it being to9ic and therefore un%gra!able, luckily animals will

aoid it

due to its

bitter taste

but it still

wastes

good

gra!ing

land.

hort

3ellow 4aisy like

owers, with

clusters of orets

;oundly diided grey%

0lowers are

airless stem

#he yellow owers hae

< to B round edged

petals each, measure @%

Ccm in diameter, are

borne on erect stalks

are can be seen

between pril and

Leaes are split up

into C lobes with

toothed ed es leaes

0ibrous roots


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Dettles (Ertica dioica)

common perennial weed that can

grow from seeds or root portions. It

can be an issue as it spreads oer a

wide area relatiely fast making large

portions of good grassland

unpalatable reducing your gra!ing

area. It also has a tendency to come

back which can make it hard to get

rid of. as a taproot.

#assels of small green

owers hang o" the top

Pointed leaes with

serrated ed es and

#a root

Grassland Managment - common on farm grasses in the UK

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