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Preharvest Factors Influencing Quality of Conserved Forage¹

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

Abstract

Forage at the time of harvest is the cumulative result of plant growth and the environmental factors influencing the distribution of photosynthetically derived energy and nutrients in those plants. Environmental conditions of growth determine the plant composition which in turn controls the limits of nutritive value. Environmental temperature, which increases lignification is a dominant effect, while the effects of plant maturity (decreasing quality) and light (increasing quality) are secondary. Other factors include water, fertilization and disease which affect quality via plant development. Generally any factor that retards plant development tends to maintain quality. The combination of these factors cause different nutritive qualities in forages from differing geographical locations and between first cuttings in spring and aftermath cuttings. Detergent fiber analyses or date of cutting are successful in predicting quality of temperate first cuttings, but are less effective in dealing with aftermath cuttings and tropical forages. It is difficult to provide a single criterion that will adequately characterize all forages.

¹ Invitational paper presented as part of the Symposium on Pastures and Forages held during the Annual Meeting of the ASAS at Madison, WI, July 23 to 27, 1977.

² Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

³ Animal and Dairy Science Department, University of Georgia, Athens.

⁴ Department of Grassland Husbandry, University of Wageningen, The Netherlands.

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