Live-weight gains of lambs on limed and unlimed pasture at similar levels of nutrition

M.B. O'Connor, K.T. Jagusch, K.S. Maclean, D.C. Edmeades

Ruakura Animal Research Station, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hamilton

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1984, 44: 163-166

Experiments were conducted for monthly periods during the spring and summer and autumn of 1982-83 with lambs fed on pastures from limed (pH 6.1) and unlimed (pH 5.5) areas. Lambs were offered herbage allowances 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 kg DM/d on both limed and unlimed areas (10 groups of 10 lambs). Pasture composition remained similar between the 2 areas as did in vitro digestibilities of the pasture on offer. Limed pasture showed an increase in Ca and Mo and a decrease in Mn compared with the unlimed. Lamb live-weight gains were similar between limed and unlimed groups at all levels of herbage allowance over the 3 seasons suggesting that herbage quantity rather than quality was the major factor affecting the growth rate of the animals.

Keywords: NZSAPAB; Lime; pasture quality; herbage allowance; lamb live weight

Download abstract in text format
Last Updated 03-05-1997