Animal Performance and Pasture Characteristics on Cool‐Season Annual Grass Mixtures in North Florida

Cool‐season forage mixtures are an option for extending the length of the grazing season. Small grains have a different growth distribution than annual ryegrass and may increase livestock gain per area. This 2‐yr grazing study tested three small grain–annual ryegrass mixtures: (i) cereal rye ( Secale cereale L. ‘FL401’)–annual ryegrass ( Lolium multiflorum Lam. ‘Prine’); (ii) oat ( Avena sativa L. ‘Horizon 201’)–annual ryegrass Prine; (iii) triticale (× Triticosecale spp. ‘Trical 342’)–annual ryegrass Prine. Stocking rate was adjusted, based on herbage allowance, using continuous stocking. Response variables included herbage mass, herbage allowance, herbage accumulation rate, herbage N, herbage in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), botanical composition, average daily gain (ADG), grazing days, stocking rate (SR), gain per area, and blood urea N (BUN). Seasonal and annual variation occurred for most of the responses, but total season animal production was similar among mixtures. The ADG in 2014 was 0.90 and 0.85 kg head −1 d −1 in 2015. Stocking rate varied among mixtures within sampling dates and years, but season‐long average SR was similar among mixtures. Total season animal gain was 367 kg body weight (BW) ha −1 in 2014 and 313 kg BW ha −1 in 2015. Small‐grain species and varieties resulted in different growing curves, with FL401 cereal rye being the earliest variety in the present study. Oat and triticale demonstrated a more evenly distributed growth rate along the season, facilitating the adjustment of the stocking rate and grazing management.