Recent Developments in Predicting Forage Quality

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Abstract
The quest for simple, quick, reliable and inexpensive methods for laboratory prediction of forage quality continues. The laboratory method generally accepted as superior for the prediction of ruminant in vivo digestibility is the in vitro rumen fermentation technique. Until new methods become reliable, use of acid detergent fiber to predict digestibility and neutral detergent fiber (cell walls) to predict intake potential of legume, grass, and mixed forages appears to be the most feasible approach for routine testing of farmer-produced forages that will be fed or marketed. The most promising new procedure being tested is infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The potential exists for this procedure to predict animal nutritive responses directly, without first predicting chemical composition. Copyright © 1979. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1979 by American Society of Animal Science.