Relationships Among Forage Yield and Quality Factors of Hay-Type Sorghums
2003
Moyer, Joseph L. | Fritz, John O. | Higgins, James J.
Sudangrass [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and various sorghum lines are used for hay production because of their production potential. Most performance evaluations emphasize yield and agronomic characteristics, but seldom include forage quality. Hay-type sorghum cultivars were grown in five independent trials to test yield and forage quality. First-cut (boot stage to head emergence) forage was harvested for yield and subsampled for one or more quality components. The earliest trial tested forage crude protein (CP) and more recent trials included assays of leaf:stem ratio, and leaf, stem, and total forage concentrations of CP, neutral-detergent fiber (NDF), and acid-detergent fiber (ADF). Pearson correlation coefficients within trials and pooled correlations across trials indicated relationships of forage yield and quality factors. Forage CP was negatively correlated with yield in each trial, with a pooled value of -0.52 (P< 0.001). Leaf:stem ratio was not strongly related to yield or laboratory quality. Stem components' concentrations of CP and fiber were closely related to their concentrations in the total forage. Negative associations found between forage yield and quality factors emphasized the need to obtain quality as well as yield information for sorghum lines for hay production.
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