Auswirkungen des letzten Nutzungstermins von Weiden im Herbst auf den Ertrag im darauf folgenden Frühling

Summary

The consequences of a late closing date in autumn on pasture performance in spring are mostly unknown under Mid-European climatic conditions. An experiment on two sites in the Swiss lowlands showed that a delay of the closing date from early October to late November reduced spring yield by 50% (238-821 kg DM/ha) in early April and 18% (556-986 kg DM/ha) in Mai. This reduction of spring yield was particularly high (up to 75%) if the residual herbage mass before winter was below 300-500 kg DM/ha. On the other hand residual herbage mass above this threshold did not increase spring yield considerably. Thus, the utilisation of pasture in late autumn is recommended, if conditions are favourable and if grazing does not reduce the residual herbage mass below 300-500 kg DM/ha, corresponding to a herbage height of 5-6 cm (plate pasture meter).