Nutritive Value of Timothy Hay as Affected by Date of Harvest

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Abstract
A relatively pure stand of first-growth Climax timothy was divided into 11 plots and harvested at 11 stages of maturity beginning on May 27, and at 7-day intervals until August 5. Protein content and protein digestibility both decreased sharply with each delay in harvest until July 22 when values seemed to level off and remained fairly constant, probably due to the effects of bottom regrowth of the forage stand and possibly to seed formation. The digestibility of the energy in these forages decreased markedly as they matured. Coefficients of dry matter digestibility decreased sharply and constantly with each delay in harvest, and a linear relationship was established between dry matter digestibility (Y) and days elapsing after May 17 (X) in the equation, Y=84.91—0.481 X. The results of this study indicate that date of harvest can be used as a basis for predicting nutritive value (expressed as digestible dry matter), and that it is probably the single most important determinant of forage nutritive value. Copyright © . .