Dietary preferences of cows offered choices between white clover and 'high sugar' and 'typical' perennial ryegrass cultivars

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to compare dietary preferences of cows offered simple choices between spatially separated monocultures of perennial ryegrass cvv. AberDawn (AD) and AberElan (AE), and white clover (WC) under strip grazing. AberDawn was bred to express high water soluble carbohydrate concentrations, whereas AE has typical levels. The proposed hypotheses were that cows would exhibit a partial preference for the ryegrass cultivar with a higher concentration of non-structural carbohydrates, and that there would be an interaction between the non-structural carbohydrate concentration of the ryegrass and strength of preference for WC. Non-lactating cows were offered a pasture allowance o..