Grassland improvement and recultivation
Basic feed of the best quality has a clearly positive impact on the operating result. The prerequisite for this is stable, persistent, harmonious, healthy, highly digestible, dock-free plant populations that are adapted to the climate and use. In order to keep the grassland in good condition in the long term with regard to optimal yields, but also to preserve valuable plant communities, ongoing care is required. If there is extensive damage to the turf or general gaps, grassland reseeding or grassland renewal is necessary. The following objectives are pursued through reseeding:
Increase in quality and yield: more ingredients (energy and protein, minerals) and quantity yield by introducing high-quality forage grasses and legumes that are adapted to the location and the intensity of cultivation.
Improving grain density: increasing the proportion of undergrasses and species with high regenerative capacity to reduce weed infestation and feed contamination as well as for better load-bearing capacity and resistance to grazing animals and machines.
The ideal reseeding time depends on the location and climatic conditions. In principle, reseeding in spring or late summer is recommended. In order to achieve sustainable results, it is important that the seed mixture is tailored to the respective type of use and that varieties are established that have good endurance, winter hardiness, cutting tolerance and weed suppression.
Grassland damage and weed control
Grassland damage and yield depression can be caused by a variety of causes. In addition to less than ideal crop management, climatic causes such as dry periods or animal pests can also lead to negative changes in the vegetation cover and plant population. If the important forage plants fail, the population becomes gappy and undesirable grasses and herbs can establish themselves in the resulting gaps. The feed value of the gap fillers is usually very low and the plants are not eaten by the animals or only with great reluctance. In addition to the native weeds and grasses such as the blunt-leaved dock and the common panicle, neophytes, some of which are poisonous, are also increasingly becoming a problem.
Recultivation of alpine areas
When greening pasture areas at medium altitudes (e.g. as part of building slopes, revitalizing alpine pastures and separating forest pastures), problems arise again and again that affect the success of the measures taken. Improvements to existing pasture areas are also of little success without using appropriate sowing techniques and mixtures. In order to avoid recultivation errors and thus create stable, productive pasture areas, a number of measures must be taken, ranging from area preparation and greening to correct care management.
Site-appropriate greenery in high altitudes
In the last twenty-five years there has been a rapid development of technology for revegetation in high altitudes in the Austrian Alps. The excavator has replaced the bulldozer, and the preservation and reuse of existing vegetation has become a matter of course in many places. At the beginning of the 1990s, seeds of locally appropriate subalpine and alpine species were not available. Twenty-four different species are now being propagated on a large scale and offered in sufficient quantities. The modern state of the art developed from these possibilities is the standard practiced in most federal states. However, due to extreme site conditions and alternative objectives, there are still challenges that require new strategies and solutions - accompanied by science.
Greening of special locations
In addition to commercial and extensive grassland, grassland communities can also be created in the area of landscaping or on special locations. The vegetation management department in the Alpine region researches mixture compositions and establishment techniques for a wide variety of locations. Particularly noteworthy in this report are roof and parking lot greening, roadside strips and embankments, as well as greening in fruit and wine growing. Such greenery, which is adapted to the special conditions, is usually easy to maintain, makes a major contribution to maintaining and promoting biodiversity and can prevent soil erosion.
agriculture
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team
Dr. Bernhard Krautzer
Institute management for crop production and cultural landscape
Mag. MSc. Andreas Schaumberger
Grassland management and cultural landscape
DI Andreas Klingler
Grassland management and cultural landscape
Dr. Wilhelm Graiss
Head of department