ARS | Publication request: DIURNAL HARVEST TIMING AND RUMINANT PREFERENCE FOR SWITCHGRASS HAY

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 31, 1999
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Cattle, sheep, and goats preferred fescue and alfalfa hay cut in the afternoon (PM) to hay cut in the morning (AM). Previous work utilized hay made in the arid west and had not tested a subtropical grass. Seven pairs of PM/AM switchgrass hays were cut over 2 years in North Carolina to test for preference for hays cut in the PM over those cut in the AM. In the first year 3 pairs of hays were tested by cattle, sheep, and goats. Only goats showed a significant preference for PM hays (p=0.02). In the second year, 4 pairs of hays were tested by sheep and goats. Sheep preferred PM hays but goats varied in their preference. The PM-AM effect was more variable than when previously tested. This may be due to the use of a subtropical (C4) grass and/or production of hay in the humid east.