Biomass production and feeding value of whole-crop cereal-legume silages
¹ MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Plant Production Research, Lönnrotinkatu 3, FIN-50100Mikkeli, Finland; e-mail: arja.nykanen@mtt.fi
² MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Method Services, FIN-31600 Jokioinen, Finland
³ MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, FIN-31600 Jokioinen, Finland
Abstract:
In eastern Finland, 12 mixtures of spring wheat, spring barley, spring oats and/or rye with vetches and/or peas were evaluated in field experiments from 2005 to 2007 for their dry matter (DM) production, crude protein (CP) concentration and digestibility using three different harvesting times. Spring wheat-pea and spring wheat-vetch-rye mixtures produced the highest DM yields (5,000–6,000 kg ha-1) while the lowest yields were found with spring oats-vetch (4,000 kg ha-1 DM). The highest CP concentrations were found in vetches (200 g kg-1 DM) and lowest in spring cereals (90–120 g kg-1 DM). Organic matter digestibility was highest in peas (700–750 g kg-1) and lowest in spring rye and wheat (550–610 g kg-1). It is suggested that decisions concerning when to harvest legume-cereal mixtures for forage could be based on the maturity stage of the cereal, because changes in digestibility and CP concentration are slow in legumes during the potential harvesting period. Key words: barley, dry matter yield, forage digestibility, oats, pea, rye, vetch, wheatINTRODUCTION
Key words:
barley, dry matter yield, forage digestibility, oats, pea, rye, vetch, wheat