Model for calculating grassland yields and forage quality in North-East Germany on the basis of site and management characteristics

Abstract

Starting out from the results of extensive grassland experiments made in 40 years of professional work and from search in the relevant literature, an attempt was made to draw up a yield and quality model for grassland sites in the North-East German lowland area. For this, major influencing factors were evaluated and combined in a module by joining several databases. Validation of the results shows usable agreement between the measured yield and quality data and the calculated ones. The average absolute yield variation between the pairs of variates was 8.4 dt DM · ha−1 (1 dt = 100 kg), and the variation in quality was 0.4 MJ NEL kg DM−1 and 19.8 g CP kg DM−1, respectively. Seven input data (site, climate, nutrient supply, water regime, vegetation type, nitrogen fertilization, intensity of use) for site characterization and intensity of management must be available when using the model.