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Forages and Crop Residues: Quality Evaluation and Systems of Utilization

West Virginia University, Morgantown 26506 and University of Nebraska, Lincoln 68500

Abstract

Considerable progress has been made in the last 25 yr both in definition of components of forage quality and in the development of animal and laboratory techniques for quality measurement. Fundamental to this is recognition of the importance of intake of digestible energy by the ruminant. The classical proximate analysis system for evaluating forage quality is being replaced by techniques based on determination of the rate and extent of digestion of the plant cell wall. Improved in vitro and detergent extraction procedures enable the energy digestibility of forages to be estimated with reasonable accuracy. The prediction of intake is a more difficult problem and further studies are needed to clarify the role of physical and chemical composition of the forage, and of animal and environmental factors, on intake and palatability. Determination of intake and the prediction of response in animals under t grazing conditions is a particularly formidible task.

A diversity of production systems utilizing pastures, harvested forages and crop residues has evolved in different regions of the country in response to soil and climatic constraints, competing requirements for land and water resources and the relative cost and availability of feed grains. With probable limitations on energy use in the future, an increasing trend is seen towards the development of less energy intensive livestock feeding systems. These may involve replacement of a further proportion of the grain component of beef cattle finishing and dairy cattle diets with high quality pasture or conserved forage, an increased use of crop residues and waste feed materials, reduced use of fertilizer and greater reliance on legumes, the introduction of forage species adapted to limiting soil and climatic conditions and the integration of management of temperate and tropical or subtropical species of perennial and annual grasses and legumes into efficient systems of beef and sheep production. There will be alternative uses for grass and for ruminant feedstuffs in the future. It is, however, suggested that a high level of meat production from ruminant livestock can be sustained, given reasonable economic incentives, with more effective management and development of the present pasture and range land resources of this country.

Key Words: Pastures • Forages • Crop Residues • Beef Cattle • Nutritive Quality • Forage Systems

¹ Dept. of Anim. Sci., West Virginia Univ.

² Dept. of Anim. Sci., Univ. of Nebraska.