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An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of species, cultivar, and phenological stage, on the concentration of fatty acid composition in different forages legumes. Four species and eight cultivars Vicia sativa L. (VS cv. Jose JO, and Nikian NI), Vicia Villosa Roth (VV cv.Haiymaker HA, and Hungivillosa HU) Trifolium incarnatum L. (TI cv. Viterbo VI, and Contea CO), and Trifolium alexandrinum L. (TAX cv Marmilla MA and Sacromonte SA) were compared. Overall the main factors which influence fatty acids (FA) profile appear to be forage species and phenological stage but we need to consider the numerous interaction with these factors; besides the second important FA (C16:0) did not change between different phenological stages whereas linoleic acid increases (about 50% P

International audience; Four wethers housed in individual pens and fitted with ruminal cannulae were grouped (two wethers per group) and fed fresh forage (Italian ryegrass, Lolium multiflorum) with either beet pulp (BP) or corn based concentrate (C) as supplements, using a crossover experimental design. The experiment was carried out during two experimental periods: the growing phase (early spring, G) and the reproductive phase (late spring, R) of the ryegrass. The diet of each animal was changed as the grass moved from the vegetative phase to the reproductive phase. The intake, the chemical composition of the diet and ruminal parameters such as pH, ammonia and volatile fatty acid were determined. Total dry matter intake (DMI) decreased from early to late spring (1081 vs 767 g/d; P

In the light of recent findings in sheep nutrition and behaviour, the diets of grazing dairy sheep should be based on forages encompassing a variety of complementary nutritional values and containing moderate levels of complementary plant secondary metabolites, until recently regarded as "anti-nutritional". In lactating sheep, pastures of tannin-containing legumes like sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) and chicory (Cichorium intybus) can be integrated with annual grasses for establishing sustainable artificial pastures under rainfed conditions. Diets based on these forages, while ensuring high milking performance, can mitigate the unbalance of CP to energy ratio of grazing sheep. By grazing sulla and annual or Italian ryegrass (50:50 by area) as spatially conterminal monocultures or in timely sequence (complementary grazing) sheep eat more and perform better than by grazing the ryegrass pasture only. Concentrate supplementation of lactating sheep should be preferably based on fibrous sources (soyhulls or beet pulps), particularly from mid-lactation onwards and when supplementation levels are high. Milk urea concentration is confirmedly a useful monitoring tool to balance protein nutrition and curb the waste of N at animal and system level.

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

Nutritionists are interested in functional assays of tannins that do not require time-consuming and expensive extraction, such as the (14)C-labeled poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-binding (PEG-b) assay. This paper reports the application of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to determine the percentage of PEG binding, in place of the (14)C-labeled PEG-b assay of tannin, in Mediterranean woodland vegetation. Calibration was done with 53 samples from 14 species and was validated on 25 samples from 10 species. PEG-b ranged between 1.4 and 20.7% in the samples. The calibration obtained by using the modified partial least-squares (MPLS) method, with all wavelengths in the 1100-2500 nm range combined, and the validation were reasonably linear (R (2) = 0.96 and 0.91, respectively). The accuracies, estimated from the standard errors of cross-validation and prediction, were +/-1.6 and +/-1.7% PEG-b, respectively. The NIRS-aided procedure proposed here can serve as an accurate, inexpensive, time-saving, and environment-friendly functional assay of tannin in Mediterranean browse.