Short-term herbage intake rate in temperate pastures grasses grown in pure or in intercropping stands

摘要

Oat and ryegrass pastures grown in intercropping systems are the most common forages used during the fall and winter in subtropical and in some temperate climate regions. Nevertheless; it must be taken into account that the way in which the differentspecies of plants are presented to the animals may lead to consequences for the efficiency of the grazing process (Prache and Damasceno 2006). Moreover, in heterogeneous environments, animals may reduce intake rate due to a partial preference for a specific species (Goncalves et al. 2009).