SEASONAL TRENDS IN CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF DIFFERENT ARTIFICIAL PASTURES

This research was conducted to determine the chemical composition of different artificial pastures from the years 2010 to 2012. For this purpose, two different artificial pastures were established, each covering 1.5 ha area during the first year of the research. The mixtures of the pastures used were as follows: Pasture 1 (P1): Medicago sativa L. (20%) + Bromus inermis L. (40%) + Agropyron cristatum L. (30%) + Poterium sanguisorba (10%);Pasture 2 (P2): Medicago sativa L. (15%) + Onobrychis sadva Lam. (15%) + Agropyron cristatum L. (35%) + Bromus inermis L. (35%). Forage samples were collected from grazing and non-grazing areas once every 15 days during the grazing seasons. The nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), crude ash and tetany ratio were determined on the forage samples.