Incorporating Plantain with Perennial Ryegrass-White Clover in a Dairy Grazing System: Dry Matter Yield, Botanical Composition, and Nutritive Value Response to Sowing Rate, Plantain Content and Season

Incorporating plantain with perennial ryegrass and white clover (RGWC) can improve the quality quantity of grazing pastures; however, sowing rate could affect persistence plantain, pasture yield, nutritive value in different seasons. The objective this study was to evaluate effect increasing rates when established RGWC on dry matter (DM) botanical composition, value, bioactive compounds over first two years after sowing; determine relationship between content characteristics treatments were RGWC, + low (PLL), medium (PLM), high (PLH). results showed that annual DM yield similar treatments. average (including leaves reproductive stem) 32, 44, 48% PLL, PLM, PLH, respectively. composition increased 15 months, then declined rapidly about 20–30% at day 705 sowing. Compared plantain-RGWC pastures (PLL, PLH) had a higher organic digestibility (OMD), ash, starch, non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), P, S, Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, Zn, B, Co, aucubin, acteoside, catalpol, while they contained lower DM%, acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral (NDF), crude fat (CF), Fe, Mn. These differences linearly associated summer autumn than spring. In conclusion, incorporating into herbage quality, thus potentially farm productivity environmental benefits. However, further work is required investigate management interventions sustain beyond from