Publication Date
1989
Description
The need to more adequately express feed value in forages and, that will communicate this value among agricultural scientists, agri-business clientele and producers has long been recognized world wide. Modern dairy, beef and sheep producers are becoming increasingly concerned about forage quality ; its translation into animal products per unit land area ; and its effect along with forage yield on enterprise profits. The Hay Marketing Task Force-Forage Analysis Subcommittee organized by the American Forage and Grassland Council in 1975 proposed hay standards based on in vivo digestible dry matter or energy availability (DDM) and dry matter intake (DMI) predicated from acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF), respectively. Dry matter intake was expressed as grams per kilogram metabolic weight (g/w kg 0-75) in early papers (Rohweder et al, 1978). Recent studies show the use of actual body weight to be a better predictor of forage intake than the traditionnal metabolic weight (Rohweder et al, 1987a). Mertens (1985) stated that differences in intake typically account for 50 to 70 percent of the variation in nutrient intake. It is a critical component in most ration balancing systems. Mertens (1982) also summarized data from many experiments and subsequently proposed that NDF be used as a common dietary characteristic which can be related to fill and energy intake. He estimated that at minimum fat corrected milk (FCM) production, daily NDF intake was 1.2 kg ± 0.1 % for each 100 kg of body weight. This small variation in NDF intake suggests that it can be a constant for predicting intake.
Citation
Rohweder, D A. and Miller, L, "Evaluating Forage Quality as Animal Production Per Unit of Forage and Land Area" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 33.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session7/33
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Evaluating Forage Quality as Animal Production Per Unit of Forage and Land Area
The need to more adequately express feed value in forages and, that will communicate this value among agricultural scientists, agri-business clientele and producers has long been recognized world wide. Modern dairy, beef and sheep producers are becoming increasingly concerned about forage quality ; its translation into animal products per unit land area ; and its effect along with forage yield on enterprise profits. The Hay Marketing Task Force-Forage Analysis Subcommittee organized by the American Forage and Grassland Council in 1975 proposed hay standards based on in vivo digestible dry matter or energy availability (DDM) and dry matter intake (DMI) predicated from acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF), respectively. Dry matter intake was expressed as grams per kilogram metabolic weight (g/w kg 0-75) in early papers (Rohweder et al, 1978). Recent studies show the use of actual body weight to be a better predictor of forage intake than the traditionnal metabolic weight (Rohweder et al, 1987a). Mertens (1985) stated that differences in intake typically account for 50 to 70 percent of the variation in nutrient intake. It is a critical component in most ration balancing systems. Mertens (1982) also summarized data from many experiments and subsequently proposed that NDF be used as a common dietary characteristic which can be related to fill and energy intake. He estimated that at minimum fat corrected milk (FCM) production, daily NDF intake was 1.2 kg ± 0.1 % for each 100 kg of body weight. This small variation in NDF intake suggests that it can be a constant for predicting intake.
