Dr. Robert Kalmbacher

Professor, Agronomy - Range Management & Forage Crops

Pasture Grasses and Legumes

Evaluation of new grasses and legumes involves initial evaluation in small plots where they are evaluated for persistence, yield, and nutritive value. Promising entries are subsequently evaluated in grazing trials to evaluate livestock performance. Research is conducted on new and existing forages to improve methods of establishment, yield, nutritive value, and persistence. Demonstration trials on ranches are sometimes conducted to validate research results.

PASTURE GRASSES AND LEGUMES PUBLICATIONS

• Destruction of sod-seeded legumes by the snail, (Polygyra cereolus).
• Effect of initial harvest, stubble and regrowth height on yield quality of Indigofera hirsuta.
• Sod-seeding winter dormant bahiagrass with three temperate legumes.
• Methods of overseeding oats, rye and ryegrass in herbicide-treated bahiagrass.
• Establishment of three legumes in bahiagrass sod using different herbicides and seeders.
• Evaluation of clover seeded at three times in grazed or burned bahiagrass.
• Cutting management of the tropical legume, American jointvetch (Aeschynomene americana L.).
• The management of Brassica for winter forage in the sub-tropics.
• Light penetrating a bahiagrass canopy and its influence on establishing jointvetch.
• Minerals in the legumes american jointvetch and hairy indigo as affected by harvest height.
• Fermentation substrate and forage from south Florida cropping sequences.
• Effect of spring-applied corn herbicides on fall tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers.
• Use of residual N and K by field corn seeded in full bed plastic mulch after fall tomatoes.
• Plant density effects on sorghum yield and tillering.
• Small grain forage and grain yield studies in south Florida.
• Effect of fertilizer and nematicide treatments on crops grown for biomass.
• Effect of dolomite rate and placement on leucaena forage and seed yield.
• Bahiagrass canopy size, soil water and establishment of aeschynomene.
• Comparison of five grasses with annual legumes or nitrogen fertilization.
• Growth relationships between Vigna adenantha or V. parkeri and five perennial bunch grasses.
• Effect of rest period length prior to atra paspalum seed harvest.
• Effect of renovation equipment on the productivity of two bahiagrass swards.
• Preliminary evaluation of Paspalum atratum Swallen (atra paspalum): a high quality, seed producing, perennial forage grass for Florida.
• 'Suerte' atra paspalum: its management and utilization.
• Reaction of 'Suerte' Paspalum atratum to herbicides.
• Performance of cattle grazing pastures based on Paspalum atratum cv. Suerte.
• Effect of clipping on yield and nutritive value of ‘Suerte' Paspalum atratum.
• Supplementation of diets of weaned steers grazing ‘Suerte' Paspalum atratum.
• Effect of dolomite and sowing rate on plant density, yield and nutritive value Paspalum atratum.
• Stockpiling herbaceous tropical legumes for dry-season feed in Jamaica.
• Effect of flooding on germination and emergence of three pasture grasses.
• Effect of N rate and time of application on Paspalum atratum cv. Suerte.
• Seed dormancy and aging in atra paspalum.
• Comparative yield and nutritive value of Suerte atra paspalum and Mott elephantgrass.
• Leucaena for weaned cattle in south Florida.
• Management effects on herbage yield and botanical composition of rhizoma peanut in mixed grass associations

Selcted Publications on Range Science

• Yield and quality of creeping bluestem as affected by time of cutting
• Mineral composition of creeping bluestem as affected by time of cutting
• Burning and 2,4,5-T application on mortality and carbohydrate reserves in saw palmetto
• Distribution of dry matter and chemical constituents in plant parts of four Florida native grasses
• Seasonal mineral concentration in diets of esophageal fistulated steers on three range areas
• Botanical composition of the diets of cattle grazing south Florida rangelands
• Effects of clipping on burned and unburned creeping bluestem
• Effect of grazing time and intensity on creeping bluestem
• Diet quality of steers grazing three range sites in south Florida
• Effect of season and regrazing on diet quality of burned Florida range
• Effect of defoliation frequency and N-P-K fertilization on maidencane
• Variation in forage component composition and in vitro disappearance of creeping bluestem
• Fertilization and harvest season of eastern gamagrass at Ona and Jay, Florida
• Economic evaluation of range management practices; an electronic spread sheet analysis
• Potential of creeping bluestem for improvement of grazing on Florida range
• Response of southern wax myrtle to herbicides in south Florida pasture
• Effect of N-P-K fertilization on yield and tiller density of creeping bluestem
• Determining field recommendations for control of sand blackberry with triclopyr
• South Florida flatwoods range vegetation responses to season of deferment from grazing
• Response of creeping bluestem to varying month of burn and soil water
• Effect of molasses-based liquid supplements on digestibility of creeping bluestem and performance of brood cows wintered on range
• Shifts in botanical composition of flatwoods range following fertilization
• Stockpiling hemarthria and hymenachne on flatwoods range pond margins
• Evaluation of breeding seasons for cows grazing winter range and bahiagrass pasture in south Florida

SELECTED ONA REPORTS ON RANGE SCIENCE PUBLISHED IN THE FLORIDA CATTLEMAN AND LIVESTOCK JOURNAL

• Maidencane and its management
• Rotational burning of winter range
• Considerations for palmetto control on range
• Can Florida range be improved through grazing?
• When should range be grazed after a burn?
• Seeding firebreaks for cattle and wildlife
• Control of blackberry briars
• Changes in range vegetation after five years of grazing
• Range cows fed molasses-based supplement perform well
• Evaluation of breeding seasons for brood cows