INTRODUCTION Alfalfa is the primary forage fed to lactating dairy cows; however, there is renewed interest in utilizing grass forages in lactating dairy cow diets particularly because of farm nutrient management issues. Yield and perceived quality is generally lower for grass species compared to legumes while other agronomic factors such as longer stand life, requirement for nitrogen fertilizer...

Profitable livestock production from forages largely depends on efficiency of converting forages into products. Efficient grazing management systems require an understanding of the roles of system components. However, experimentation should be conducted with regard to the system as a whole rather than on the systems components in isolation. This may necessitate development of computer models. T...

INTRODUCTION 152 GUIDE TO TYPICAL FEEDSTUFFS 153 Cereals, sugar beet and oil seeds as feedstuffs 154 Major cereals fed to horses 154 Oil seeds 156 Vegetable oils 156 Forages and other fiber sources 158 Hay 158 Soaking hay before feeding 159 Semi-wilted forages 159 Silage 159 Straw 160 Hydroponics 160 Soya hulls and sugar beet pulp 161 Methods of feed processing 161 Feed storage 162 Feedstuffs a...

The lignocellulose in forage crops represents a second generation of biomass feedstock for conversion into energy-related end products. Some of the most extensively studied species for cellulosic feedstock production include forages such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). An advantage of using forages as bioenergy ...

The established calculation of ruminal extent of degradation using the polyester bag method overestimates extent. The wash fraction, at least in part, is subject to losses from the rumen due to passage. Four formulae are proposed to minimize this risk of overestimation. Four options are considered: 1) passage losses for particulate matter escaping from the bag at zero time are according to the ...

Lignin is the prime factor influencing the digestibility of plant cell wall material. As concentrations of lignin increase, digestibility, intake and animal performance usually decreases. Presented is a simplified acid detergent lignin procedure which has been used to determine lignin concentration from a wide range of forages and also ryegrass at different stages of maturation. Forages used in...