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ARS Home » Northeast Area » University Park, Pennsylvania » Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420920
Research Project: Developing Climate-Smart Forage and Animal Management Strategies and Precision Technologies for Integrated Crop-Pasture-Livestock Systems in the Northeast

Location: Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research

Title: Can Brix predict energy in forages?

Author
item Soder, Kathy
item Billman, Eric
item HORST, JEFF - Agri-King, Inc
item BALK, KRISTI - Agri-King, Inc

Submitted to: Hay and Forage Grower
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/2024
Publication Date: 3/17/2025
Citation: Soder, K.J., Billman, E.D., Horst, J., Balk, K. 2025. Can Brix predict energy in forages?. Hay and Forage Grower. 16-17.

Interpretive Summary: No Interpretive Summary is required for this Other 115. JLB.

Technical Abstract: Brix has been used on farms to estimate forage sugar concentrations but has not been compared to laboratory analysis. This 2-year study evaluated how well Brix values of fresh forage predicted sugar concentrations of alfalfa and orchardgrass. Monthly forages samples of each forage were collected in 2019 and 2021 (May-Sept). Forage samples were evaluated for Brix values with a hand-held digital refractometer, and the remaining sample was sent to a laboratory for wet chemistry analyses. Results showed that while Brix values were moderately positively correlated to individual and total sugars in alfalfa, Brix values did not correlate to any notable nutritive value parameters in orchardgrass. Brix appears to be unreliable at consistently predicting high-sugar forages.