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Grass breeding and livestock production

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Conclusion

Whether in terms of greater production or more efficient operations the contribution which grass breeding research has made and will continue to make to the livestock producer is a very substantial one. How substantial varietal effects can be has been demonstrated. Use of the proper variety has given up to 100% increases in production with no other change in management (1, 6, 30, 74). Mere existence of a variety does not, however, guarantee its superiority (11, 16, 55). The final test is always the animal (48). Answers from such testing have proven beyond a doubt that breeders have generally been successful. Their work promises still greater success.

As a final statement in a review of this nature no better words could be found than those used by Dr. F. R. Home (33) in a presidential address to the British Grassland Society “... I hope I have said enough to suggest to you that, when you are next looking at grassland, you should consider the inherited characters of the sward which may well be the basic factor in production.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA, USA

    William R. Kneebone (Research agronomist, associate professor of Agronomy)

  2. United States Southern Great Plains Field Station, Oklahoma State University, Woodward, Oklahoma

    William R. Kneebone (Research agronomist, associate professor of Agronomy)

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  1. William R. Kneebone
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Contribution from Crops Research Division, ARS, USDA, and the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station.

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Kneebone, W.R. Grass breeding and livestock production. Econ Bot 14, 300–315 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02908040

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