New annual legumes as winter crops for intensive forage rotations in Galicia (NW Spain). II – Nutritive Value
2012
S., Pereira-Crespo | J., Valladares | G., Flores | N., Díaz | B., Fernández | C., Resch | A., González-Arráez | M.J., Bande-Castro | X., Rodriguez-Diz | J., Piñeiro
The digestibility and chemical composition values of six species of annual legumes (Crimson clo - ver, Balansa clover, Persian clover –ssp. resupinatum and ssp. majus–, Arrowleaf clover and French serra - della) sown in small plots as a winter monoculture crop in the CIAM research station farm (coastal zone of Galicia, NW Spain) and harvested in the next spring following a silage-cutting strategy is presented in this paper. Forage was given a first cut at two weeks intervals in six harvest dates beginning at mid-March, and a second cut was taken after six weeks of regrowth. Nutritive value, estimated by NIRS, was high in average, and was affected by species and harvest date. For the first and second growth cycles the mean values of in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD, per cent) and crude protein content (CP, per cent dry matter) were, respectively, 73.0 plus minus 3.7 per cent and 71.7 plus minus 2.9 per cent for IVOMD and 17.8 plus minus 3.8 per cent and 18.4 plus minus 2.7 per cent for CP. Forage quality, whilst reducing from the first harvest date, showed a more marked decline after the third harvest date (mid-April). This date could be adequate for ensiling, providing a high-digestibility, protein-rich forage and would fit into an intensive two crops per year rotation with maize as the summer crop.
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