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The Response of Rumen Microorganisms to Pasture Grasses and Prickly Pear Cactus Following Foliar Application of Urea¹

Polychemicals Department, E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Inc.

Abstract

THE nutritional quality of grasses depends primarily on the degree of maturity attained by the grass at the time of grazing or harvest. As maturity progresses, feeding quality is lowered. This has been demonstrated by feeding and digestibility experiments, and supported by analyses (Morrison, 1948).

The objective of these tests was to determine whether foliar application of urea to typical pasture grasses would improve their nutritional quality. An artificial rumen technique was used for these evaluations in view of data (Kamstra et al., 1955; Pigden and Bell, 1955) demonstrating the applicability of in vitro techniques in assessing roughage quality. An in vitro rumen technique was also used in these tests to supplement the values obtained in vitro, as well as to provide protein digestibility data on the test forages.

Experimental

In Vitro Rumen Technique. Fermentations, in vitro, with mixed cultures of rumen microorganisms were carried out in Goetz (oil centrifuge) tubes of 100 ml. capacity.

¹ Presented at the 48th Meeting of the American Society of Animal Production, November 23–24, 1956.

² The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the King Ranch, Inc., Kingsville, Texas, in these studies.