You mow and trim your lawn time and time again, and yet the grass keeps coming back for more. Most plants grow from their extremities, from the tips of their branches and stems. For grasses, the base of the plant known as the crown is where the majority of its growth happens, although some growth occurs in the leaf of the plant too. The crown of the grass plant sits at the soil line.
Your grass depends on photosynthesis to make its food, and absorbing sunlight is essential for this. Each grass leaf is a solar panel. The grass doubles down and pushes out more growth. Discuss the possible future role of forages in the US. Differentiate warm-season from cool-season grasses. Summarize the distinctive physical characteristics of grasses Describe the utilization of grass in forage-livestock systems.
Describe how knowledge of grass regrowth is beneficial to forage managers. Provide specific information about the common grasses used as forage Summary Exam References Legumes Overview Pretest - Legumes Instructional Objectives Legumes are a valuable part of forage production.
Differentiate warm-season from cool-season legumes. Summarize the distinctive physical characteristics of legumes. Define the utilization of legumes in forage-livestock systems. Provide specific information about the common legumes used as forage.
Describe the major differences between the plant families used as forages. Provide the vocabulary needed to identify grasses. Provide the basic vocabulary for identifying legumes. Identify common species of forage.
Provide practice in identifying common forages. Determine limitations to forage selection. Forage selection requires an understanding of species and cultivars. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of selecting mixtures. A model for forage selection Summary Exam References Establishment Overview Pre-Test Instructional Objectives Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of pasture establishment Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of pasture renovation.
Discuss the steps in seedbed preparation. Discuss the considerations of seed quality. Discuss the methods and timing of seeding. Discuss the purpose and wise utilization of companion crops. Instructional Objectives Explain why producers and the public should be concerned about weeds.
Describe several ways in which weeds cause forage crop and animal production losses. Describe methods in determining quality List several poisonous plants found on croplands, pasturelands, rangelands, and forests. Describe the five general categories of weed control methods.
Describe the concept of Integrated Pest Management and how it applies to weed control. Distinguish between selective and non-selective herbicides and give an example of each.
Describe how weeds are categorized by life cycle and how this is correlated with specific control methods. Describe conditions that tend to favor weed problems in pastures and describe how to alleviate these conditions. Describe several common weed control practices in alfalfa production. List printed and electronic sources of weed control information. List local, regional, and national sources of weed control information. Describe the impact of defoliation on grass plants.
Discuss how grasses regrow. Discuss how livestock interaction impacts grass growth. Discuss grass growth in mixed stands. Discuss the practical applications of regrowth mechanisms. References Fertilization Overview Pre-Test Instructional Objectives Discuss the importance of soil fertility and the appropriate use of fertilization. Define and discuss the nitrogen cycle. Discuss the major elements needed for good soil fertility and plant growth.
Define and discuss micronutrients. Discuss the uses and methods of liming. Discuss fertilizer management for mixed stands. Describe the benefits of BNF in economic and environmental terms. Estimate the amount of BNF that is contributed by various crops. List and discuss factors that affect the quantity of nitrogen fixed. Describe the processes of infection and nodulation in forage legumes. Describe the process of inoculation in the production of forage legumes. List and discuss the types of grazing.
Compare and contrast the different types of grazing. Discuss the livestock dynamics on pastures and grazing. Discuss the utilization of a yearly grazing calendar. List the characteristics of good hay and the steps needed to make it.
Determine the characteristics of good silage and the steps in producing it. Discuss the potential dangers in mechanically harvesting and storing forages.
Compare and contrast the types of storage and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. Describe major types of irrigation systems in US forage production. List and discuss factors that affect irrigation efficiency.
Describe basic principles of scheduling irrigation for efficient use of water resources. Describe potential problems that may arise from the use of irrigation in forages. Describe important factors that determine hay and silage quality. Discuss the basics of grass growth. Annuals Plants with annual life cycles complete their growth cycle in a single growing season which is not usually an entire year , and are perpetuated by seed. Biennials Biennials are plants that take two seasons or years to complete their growth cycle.
Perennials Perennials are plants that continue to grow indefinitely. Sod-forming grasses: kentucky bluegrass, creeping foxtail, colonial bentgrass, bermudagrass, quackgrass, rough bluegrass, annual bluegrass, and redtop. Bunchgrasses: perennial ryegrass, annual ryegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, meadow foxtail, and tall fescue. Stages Within a seed, when conditions are right to begin germination, specific cells within the germ tissue divide and expand, pushing the apical meristem contained in the seed out of the seed.
Seedling: the grass plant has just emerged from the soil as a monocotyledon one leaf-type structure. Legumes emerge with two leaf-like structures. Grass leaves may whorl and erect a "false stem", but the true stem culm has not yet formed. Although relatively insensitive to management because the tissues involved in growth are nestled low and deep, enough leaf must be maintained to conduct photosynthesis for rapid growth, regrowth and root system development.
Vegetative: leaves continue to develop, emerge, unfurl, and die senescence. The main function of the plant is photosynthesis.
This stage of development yields the best livestock feed and managers should maintain this stage for as long as possible. However, climatic conditions will induce the next stage, sometimes called jointing, but it would more accurately be called internode elongation. Jointing: the stage of grass development during which internodes commence elongation producing a true stem culm.
This elongation is preparation for seed development. The stem is producing a peduncle that will anchor the seedhead. The elongation elevates the growing point shoot primordium including the rudimentary seed head to a vulnerable height. Close grazing or low mowing at early jointing stage should be avoided because the elevated growing point could be removed and alternative below-ground regrowth mechanisms are not ready to function.
However, removing the growing point in late jointing stage can be advantageous for some grasses because it stops the plant from spending so much energy on seedhead production so the plant redirects its energies to carbohydrate reserves. Anthesis: the flowering stage during which the flowers open and shed their pollen. Grass is the common name for the Gramineae family of plants. With more than 9, known species, this family is one of the largest on Earth. Grass is extremely important to most people's lives, whether they know it or not.
For one thing, grass is a major food source all over the world. Rice, corn and oats come from grass plants, for example, and most livestock animals feed primarily on grasses. In some parts of the world, people use grass plants in construction bamboo is a grass, for example , and wherever it grows, grass plays a vital role in curbing erosion. Grass is also used to make sugar, liquor, bread and plastics, among many other things.
Grasses have a very simple structure, and a very simple way of life. You can better grasp what grass needs when you understand how it actually functions in the world. At the base of the grass plant, roots grow down into the earth. Typically, grass roots are fibrous , or threadlike. They extend into the soil like fingers, collecting nutrients, soaking up water and securing the plant to the ground.
Grass stems, called culms , grow up from the base of the plant the crown. In most grass species, the culms are hollow and rigid, except at the nodes -- joints that join stem segments together. Narrow leaves extend out from the culms, above each node.
The leaves alternate in direction. That is, if the first leaf on a culm grows to the right, the second leaf will grow to left and the third leaf will grow to the right and so on. The lower part of the leaf is called the sheath , and the upper part is called the blade. In most grasses, a ligule surrounds the connection between the sheath and the blade. A ligule can take the form of a thin membrane or a fringe of hair-like projections.
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