Hay and pasture crops are critical to Kentucky Agriculture and to that of the entire temperate region of the US. The sale of cattle, calves and dairy products provide 29% of Kentucky's farm income compared with 23% for tobacco. Beef cowcalf enterprises comprise the majority of cattle numbers in the state, however, dairy production is also significant. A substantial horse industry also exists in...

Two experiments were conducted with Polypay ewes nursing twin lambs to evaluate the effects of supplementing fat (calcium salts of palm oil fatty acids or hydrogenated tallow) on ewe lactation. In Exp. 1, ewes were fed a 52% concentrate:48% hay-based diet (as-fed basis) consisting of alfalfa hay (n = 4), endophyte-free fescue hay (n = 4), or fescue hay with 3.7% fatty acids (n = 4) from d 4 to ...

Dairy cattle nutritionists value alfalfa hay for its high energy value which supports milk production, its rapidly rumen digested structural fiber which stimulates feed intake, its coarse structural fiber that stimulates ruminative chewing and salivation which results in rumen buffering, its structural fiber which has a high buffering capacity , its high protein level which supports animal prot...

Three hundred fifteen crossbred steers (732 ± 9 lb) were used to determine the effects of feeding high levels of Sweet Bran ® during the grain adaptation period on steer performance and carcass characteristics compared with steers fed a steam-flaked corn and alfalfa-based adaptation diet containing 20% Sweet Bran. A traditional step-up procedure was compared to four strategies which utilized Sw...

The objective was to determine the effect of forage quality on apparent total tract digestibility and ruminal fermentation in cattle versus sheep. Five yearling English crossbred (Hereford × Angus) steers (440.4 ± 35.6 kg of initial BW) and 5 yearling whiteface (Rambouillet × Columbia × Debouillet) wethers (44.4 ± 4.6 kg of initial BW), each fitted with a ruminal cannula, were randomly assigned...

Six ruminally fistulated Hereford steers (body weight=414±13 kg) were used in a switch back design to determine whether two particle sizes of alfalfa hay (18.75 and 4.65 mm theoretical cut length) influenced salivary secretion during eating. The experiment carried out in two 26-d periods, with 11-d of adaptation to ration, followed by 5 d for determining the level of voluntary feed intake, 7-d ...

The effect of pH on rumen fermentation and microbial population was studied in a continuously cultured rumen ecosystem. A marked decrease in the production of volatile fatty acids and methane from alfalfa hay occurred when the cultures were maintained at pH values below 6.0. The decrease in acetate and methane production was greater than that of propionate production. The culture maintained at ...

The objective was to determine the effect of forage quality on apparent total tract digestibility and ruminal fermentation in cattle versus sheep. Five yearling English crossbred (Hereford × Angus) steers (440.4 ± 35.6 kg of initial BW) and 5 yearling whiteface (Rambouillet × Columbia × Debouillet) wethers (44.4 ± 4.6 kg of initial BW), each fitted with a ruminal cannula, were randomly assigned...

Ruminant-derived foods contain high proportions of saturated fats as a result of ruminal biohydrogenation that rapidly saturates and thus limits the availability of free unsaturated fatty acids for assimilation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of glycerol on ruminal free-fatty acid (FFA) production rates and in vitro fermentation kinetics of alfalfa hay. In vitro incubat...