Parameters Influencing Preference by Sheep in Soft Leaved Tall Fescue Genotypes

An important disadvantage of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) is its low voluntary intake, resulting in suboptimal performances of cattle grazing tall fescue. Ideally selection for this trait is done by animals themselves, but the use of grazing animals in large breeding programmes is laborious. Repeatable, stable and quantifiable parameters that can be linked to animal preference could ease tall fescue breeding. We established a trial to find relations between the grazing preference of sheep and other plant parameters. Twenty clones were selected from a breeding programme and swards of 2 m2 were planted with three replications for each clone. On four different occasions in 2014, sheep were allowed to graze the clones and grazing preference was determined visually. Prior to the grazing, multiple morphological and chemical parameters were measured. Parameters that were correlated with sheep preference were digestibility (r = 0.86), water soluble carbohydrate content (r = 0.74) crude fiber content (r = −0.67), leaf blade width (r = 0.57) and sward height (r = −0.53).