Utilisation of grazed grass in temperate animal Systems

Foreword 7; Opening of conference address 15; J. Flanagan; Keynote presentations 17; Overview of animal production from pastures in Ireland 19; M.J. Drennan, A.F. Carson and S. Crosse; Plant and sward characteristics to achieve high intake in ruminants 37; W.J. Wales, C.R. Stockdale and P.T. Doyle; New insights into the nutritional value of grass 49; D.H. Rearte; Genetic characteristics required in dairy and beef cattle for temperate grazing systems 61; F. Buckley, C. Holmes and M.G. Keane; Grass growth modelling: to increase understanding and aid decision making on-farm 79; P.D. Barrett and A.S. Laidlaw; Modelling of herbage intake and milk production by grazing dairy cows 89; R. Delagarde and M. O'Donovan; Decision support for temperate grasslands: challenges and pitfalls 105; J.R. Donnelly, L. Salmon, R.D.H. Cohen, ZL. Liu and XP. Xin; Challenges and opportunities for animal production from temperate pastures 119; D.A. Clark; Optimising financial return from grazing in temperate pastures 131; P. Dillon, J.R. Roche, L. Shalloo and B. Horan; Section 1: Appropriate plants for grazing 149; Intake characteristics of diploid and tetraploid perennial ryegrass varieties when grazed by Simmental x Holstein yearling heifers under rotational stocking management 151; R.J. Orr, J.E. Cook, K.L. Young, R.A. Champion and A.J. Rook; The effect of early and delayed spring grazing on the milk production, grazing management and grass intake of dairy cows 152; E. Kennedy, M. O'Donovan, J.P. Murphy, L. Delaby and F.P. O'Mara; Performance of meat goats grazing winter annual grasses in the Piedmont of the southeastern USA 153; J-M. Luginbuhl and J.P. Mueller; The importance of patch size in estimating steady-state bite rate in grazing cattle 154; E.D. Ungar, N. Ravid, T. Zada, E. Ben-Moshe, R. Yonatan, S. Brenner, H. Baram and A. Genizi; Spring calving suckler beef systems: influence of grassland management system on herbage availability, utilisation, quality and cow and calf performance to weaning 155; M.J. Drennan, M. McGee, S. Kyne and B. O'Neill; Production and plant density of Sulla grazed by sheep at three growth stages 156; H. Krishna and P.D. Kemp; Management of pasture quality for sheep on New Zealand hill country 157; D.I. Gray, J.I. Reid, P.D. Kemp, I.M. Brookes, D. Horne, P.R. Kenyon, C. Matthew, S.T. Morris and I. Valentine; Perennial ryegrass variety differences in nutritive value characteristics 158; T.J. Gilliland, R.E. Agnew, A.M. Fearon and F.E.A. Wilson; A survey of European regional adaptation in Italian ryegrass varieties 159; T.J. Gilliland and A.J.P. van Wijk; Effect of perennial ryegrass cultivars on the fatty acid composition in milk of stall-fed cows 160; A. Elgersma, H.J. Smit, G. Ellen and S. Tamminga. Survey of tetraploid and diploid perennial pastures in the Waikato for number of spores produced by the fungus Pithomyces chartarum 161; J.P.J. Eerens, W.W. Nichol, J. Waller, J.M. Mellsop, M.R. Trolove and M.G. Norriss 161; Diverse forage m