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Effect of Temperature upon the Nutritive Value of Artificially Dried Hay^{1, 2,}

Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station, University Park

Abstract

Four lots of second cutting alfalfa, harvested at the full bloom stage with a direct-cut forage harvester, were dried on successive days at temperatures of 110°, 135°, 165°, and 200° F. Each hay was fed in a 4x4 Latin square design type of experiment to a group of four sheep in conventional digestion trials.

Drying temperatures of 135° and 165° F. were superior to either of the extreme temperatures as judged by digestible dry matter and energy values. Hay dried at 200° F. was slightly lower in digestibility of protein than the hays dried at the three lower temperatures.

When hay drying systems use relatively long periods of time to complete the drying process, 5 to 20 hours, temperatures as high as 165° F. can be used safely without lowering the nutritive value of the dried forage.

¹ Authorized for publication on May 23, 1960 as Paper No. 2462 in the Journal Series of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station.

² Departments of Animal Nutrition and Agricultural Engineering.

³ Present address:Department of Agricultural Engineering,University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.