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Tables from:


Sanderson, M. A., Corson, M. S., Rotz, C. A., and Soder, K. J. 2006. Economic analysis of forage mixture productivity in pastures grazed by dairy cattle. Online. Forage and Grazinglands doi:10.1094/FG-2006-0929-01-RS.



Table 1. Species, cultivars, and seeding rates used in the four mixtures compared in a grazing experiment conducted at University Park, PA, during 2001 to 2004 (from 11).

No.
species		 ‘Baridana’
orchard-
grass		 ‘Will’
white
clover		 ‘Puna’
chicory		 ‘Barolex’
tall
fescue		 ‘Sidekick’
Kentucky
bluegrass		 ‘Start’
red
clover		 ‘Norcen’
birdsfoot
trefoil		 ‘Ameri-
graze’
alfalfa		 ‘BG-34’
perennial
ryegrass		 Total
Seeding rate (lb seed per acre)
2 15 7                         22.0
3 10 5.4 5.4                    20.8
6 8    5.4 12.5 10 5.4 5.4       46.7
9 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 48.6


Table 2. Input costs for establishing pastures used in the model simulations. Costs were based on actual inputs used in establishing pastures in Sanderson et al. (11).

Item Costs
Seed Orchard-
grass+N		 Two-
species		 Three
species		 Six-
species		 Nine-
species
 ($/lb) ($/acre)
Alfalfa 4.23           22.84
Perennial ryegrass 2.28           12.31
Kentucky bluegrass 3.00         30.00 16.20
Tall fescue 1.41         17.62 7.61
White clover 4.90     34.30 26.46   26.46
Birdsfoot trefoil 3.01         16.25 16.25
Orchardgrass 3.06 54.57 45.90 30.60 24.48 16.50
Red clover 2.95         15.93 15.93
Chicory 6.00       32.40 32.40 32.40
Total     54.57 80.20 89.46 136.68 166.50
Other input costs
Dicamba herbicide $86.72/gal = $2.64/acre    

   

   

   

   
Glyphosate herbicide $65.13/gal = $8.15/acre
Herbicide application $5.91/acre
No-till seeding $15.00/acre
Nitrogen fertilizer $0.40/lb


Table 3. Summary of herbage and animal production from pastures of the four
mixtures. Herbage yield data are from Sanderson et al. (11) and animal intake and
production data are from Soder et al. (14).

Forage mixture Herbage yield
(lb/acre)		 Milk production
(lb/cow/day)		 Herbage intake
(lb/cow/day)
2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003
Two-species 4300 8050 74.3 76.1 30.2 24.5
Three-species 6650 8860 76.3 79.8 30.2 23.2
Six-species 7050 10090   75.4 76.3 30.0 23.2
Nine-species 6650 8040 73.6 77.6 28.4 22.5


Table 4. Annual feed production, feed use, production costs, and net return of various pasture establishment scenarios on a simulated dairy farm.

Item Orchard-
grass+N		 Two species Three species Six species Nine species
3x 5 10 3 5 10 3 5 10 3 5 10
(tons of dry matter)
Grass silage
production		 95 117 117 117 144 145 146 161 161 161 134 134 134
Corn silage
production		 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 248
Grazed forage
consumed		 232 202 235 252 256 278 286 270 285 292 246 264 273
Forage
purchased (sold)		 100 102 73 59 24 6 (2) 1 (12) (18) 64 48 41
Supplemental
feed
purchased		 39 33 33 34 30 30 30 26 26 26 24 24 24
       ($/cow)
Feed
production cost		 929 884 872 861 891 878 866 913 892 874 922 896 874
Manure
handling cost		 153 153 153 153 153 153 153 153 153 153 153 153 154
Net purchased
feed cost		 277 265 227 209 146 125 119 102 89 86 175 157 150
All other
costsy		 976 976 976 976 976 976 976 976 976 976 976 976 976
Total
production cost		 2335 2278 2228 2199 2166 2132 2114 2144 2110 2089 2226 2182 2154
Milk and animal sale income 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902 2902
Net return to
management		 567 624 674 703 736 770 788 758 792 813 676 720 748
Standard
deviation in
net return		 101 97 97 93 92 82 77 90 83 80 103 96 91

 x Stand life in years.

 y Includes milking facilities and labor, livestock expenses, and property tax.

 z An estimate of production risk.