Effects of Sowing Mixed Legume Forage and Applying Cattle Manure on the Productivity and Organic Hanwoo Feeding Capacity of Whole Crop Wheat

This study was to assess the effects of sowing mixed legume forage and applying fermented cattle manure on the productivity and feed value of whole crop wheat (WCW) as a representative of winter crops and also to estimate feeding capacity of Korean native cattle (Hanwoo) per unit area by defining optimal application levels of cattle manure for more fertile soil and manure recycling for the purpose of reduced environmental pollution and efficient production of organic forage contributable to production of organic animal products. Sowing mixed legume forage significantly (p0.05) increased yields of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) for WCW compared to WCW alone sowing, but there were no differences between mixed sowing treatments. The yields of DM, CP and TDN were significantly (p0.05) higher in 100~150 §¸ N/ §µ. The CP and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents were highest in mixed sowing with hairy vetch, followed by sowing mixed forage pea and WCW alone (p0.05). There were no differences in CP among cattle manure application levels. As nitrogen application level increased, ADF content increased (p0.05), but TDN content decreased (p0.05). Feeding capacity of organic Hanwoo (head/ha) weighing 450 §¸ of body weight with 400 g of daily gain significantly (p0.05) increased due to mixed sowing with legume forage, and with increasing application levels of fermented cattle manure, feeding capacity significantly (p0.05) increased. The results indicated that mixed-sowing of WCW and legume forage not only reduced nitrogen application level of fermented cattle manure by over 50 §¸ per ha but also increased their feed value and productivity, and feeding capacity. This would be contributable to diversity of forage resources as well as production of organic animal product by creating low cost and high quality of forage.