The Period of Mowing of Perennial Grasses is the Key to Obtaining High-Quality Feed in the Conditions of the Leningrad Region

Abstract

Currently, meadow feed production pays special attention to the creation and use of legumes and legume-grain herbages that provide cheap and high-quality feed [1, 2]. However, the soil and climatic conditions of both the North-Western region and the Leningrad Region do not allow for the widespread placement and creation of legume and cereal stands, therefore, cereal stands remain the main segment in the wedge of perennial grasses, which are characterized by a high rate of passage of vegetation phases and a sharp decrease in nutrients as they pass [3]. The nutrient content of cereals depends entirely on the growing phase. It has been proven that the maximum nutritional value of the feed is provided when mowing at the optimal time, which is determined by the phase of the dominant plants, the development of which determines the start time of mowing a particular herbage. The technology of haylage and silage harvesting provides for the harvesting of grass stands at an earlier date: at the end of the tube phase, the beginning of earing, hay harvesting provides for mowing at a later date, during the full earing phase, the beginning of flowering. Since cereal plants of the same species go through phases in 7-10 days, in the conditions of the Leningrad region, the first mowing can last from May 20-25 to July 5-10: from the moment of the beginning of earing of the earliest species to the complete earing of the latest species - Timofeevka meadow. Violation of the harvesting time of mowed grass stands, associated with their delay, especially with the dominance of cereals, leads to a decrease in feed quality. Therefore, the studies conducted at the experimental field of St. Petersburg State Agricultural University in 2017 and 2019 convincingly prove the effectiveness of the optimal mowing period for perennial grasses to obtain not only full-fledged harvests, but also to obtain highly nutritious feed and a full yield of feed protein units. The relevance and scientific novelty of our research lies in the fact that in order to establish the optimal start time for mowing grass crops created on the basis of different growth periods when harvesting different types of feed during the period of 1 mowing, the calculations were carried out sequentially, in dynamics after 2-3 days, taking into account the arrival of heat.

Keywords: Mowing Period; Development Phase; Cereal Stands; Feed Nutrition; Yield

Citation

Alexandrovna DN, Anatolievich LA. The Period of Mowing of Perennial Grasses is the Key to Obtaining High-Quality Feed in the Conditions of the Leningrad Region. WebLog J Agric Crop Sci. wjacs.2026.f0601. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20838367