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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #202120
Title: Effects of Fescue Type, Sampling Date, and Grazing by Dairy Replacement Heifers on the Nutritive Value and In Situ Ruminal Disappearance Kinetics of DM and NDF for Autumn-Stockpiled Tall Fescue Forages

Author
item FLORES, RENE - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
item Coblentz, Wayne
item ROSENKRANS, CHARLES - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
item OGDEN, ROBIN - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
item COFFEY, KENNETH - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
item Looper, Michael
item WEST, CHARLES - UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2006
Publication Date: 11/15/2006
Citation: Flores, R., Coblentz, W.K., Rosenkrans, C.F., Ogden, R.K., Coffey, K.P., Looper, M.L., West, C.P. 2006. Effects of Fescue Type, Sampling Date, and Grazing by Dairy Replacement Heifers on the Nutritive Value and In Situ Ruminal Disappearance Kinetics of DM and NDF for Autumn-Stockpiled Tall Fescue Forages [abstract]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. Abstract No. 1935b.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Two tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) forages, one containing a novel endophyte that produces low or nil concentrations of ergot alkaloids (HM4), and the other containing the wild-type endophyte (E+), were autumn stockpiled following late-summer clipping and fertilization with N. Beginning on 4 Dec. 2003, sixteen 361 ± 56.4-kg replacement dairy heifers were stratified by weight and breeding and assigned to one of four 1.6-ha pastures (two each of HM4 and E+). Pastures were sampled before grazing was initiated (4 Dec.), each time heifers were allowed access to a new paddock (26 Dec., 15 Jan., and 4 Feb.), and when the study was terminated (26 Feb.). Forage mass for ungrazed (U) paddocks ranged from 3650 to 5170 kg/ha, and from 2966 to 3982 kg/ha after paddocks were grazed (G). For concentrations of fiber components, there were no interactions (P > 0.064) between fescue type and sampling date for either U or G forages. Over sampling dates, concentrations of NDF (565 to 678 g/kg), ADF (277 to 349 g/kg), hemicellulose (288 to 340 g/kg), cellulose (250 to 281 g/kg), and lignin (36.1 to 100.5 g/kg) varied (P < 0.053) with sampling date, but patterns were almost exclusively curvilinear with time. For ruminal disappearance kinetics of DM, disappearance rate was not affected (P > 0.186) by any treatment factor (overall mean for both U and G = 0.050/h); similar responses were observed NDF disappearance (overall mean for both U and G = 0.048/h). Interactions of fescue type and sampling date were observed in U (P = 0.006) and G (P = 0.012) forages for effective ruminal disappearance of DM; however, estimates were relatively high for all forages (overall range = 595 to 700 g/kg). Similarly, effective disappearance of NDF was also relatively high for all forages (overall range = 513 to 584 g/kg of NDF).