A two‐year comparison on nutritive value and yield of eight lucerne cultivars and one red clover cultivar

Abstract

Increased knowledge about perennial forage growth throughout the harvest season is essential to manage grasslands strategically in order to meet the requirements of livestock production (Elgersma & Søegaard, 2018). High and persistent yields are essential for economical herbage production systems, while high nutritive value of forages is required to improve animal performance. However, red clover has generally greater nutritive quality and dry-matter (DM) yield in the first-year ley compared to lucerne, but depending on the soil characteristics and weather conditions, red clover DM yield can sharply decrease over the subsequent years due to its low persistency compared to lucerne (Phelan et al., 2015). Therefore, there is a growing interest to include both red clover and lucerne in legume-grass mixtures to maintain the legume proportion of the mixture over years (Undersander et al., 2011).However, there is only limited information available on potential differences in yield and chemical composition of lucerne cultivars originating from various countries. Subsequently, it is highly relevant to investigate yield and nutritive value of a range of different lucerne cultivars and of a tetraploid European red clover cultivar, which has similar growth rate as lucerne.The objectives of this study were to a) compare yield and nutritive value of eight lucerne cultivars and one red clover cultivar over two years under less favourable growing conditions for lucerne and b) compare digestibility and crude protein quality of four lucerne cultivars and AbstractRed clover (Trifolium pratense) and lucerne (Medicago sativa) are among the most common legume species used for ruminant feeding systems. Besides the greater nutritive quality and first-year ley yield compared to lucerne, red clover decreases its yield over the years. However, under unfavourable soil conditions the persistency of lucerne can be compromised, not performing as expected. This study compared yield and chemical composition of eight lucerne cultivars and one tetraploid red clover cultivar, with similar growth capacity as lucerne, replicated over two years. In the second year, four lucerne cultivars and the red clover cultivar were analysed for crude protein (CP) fractions, dry matter and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility. A randomized block design was used with three field blocks per cultivar for the multiple comparisons within each year. There were differences in DM yield, concentrations of CP and NDF and CP fractions among the lucerne cultivars, but the differences were inconsistent between years and between growth cycles within year. The red clover cultivar had lower CP and NDF concentrations than a majority of the lucerne cultivars, and greater in vitro organic matter digestibility compared to all of the lucerne cultivars.Also, the red clover cultivar had greater rumen undegradable-to-degradable CP ratio but confirmed its lower yield persistency compared to the lucerne cultivars. K E Y W O R D Sdigestibility, lucerne, protein, red clover | 77 SOUSA...

Genetic Diversity, Analysis of Some Agro-Morphological and Quality Traits and Utilization of Plant Resources of Alfalfa

“…On the contrary, the lowest value was recorded with S4 in all quality traits under study in the first year. These results are in agreement with those reported by [ 28 , 46 , 47 ]. The most useful forage quality traits include crude protein%, crude fiber% and ash% [ 48 ] to raise the nutritional value of alfalfa for livestock [ 49 ].…”

“…Therefore, the main goal in alfalfa breeding for the improvement of forage quality is increasing protein%, fiber% and ash content. Variations were found among eight alfalfa cultivars in CP% over two years, during a study of the nutritive value of alfalfa [ 47 ]. The ratio of leaf/stem ratio directly reflects the nutritional value of the forage, as a large quantity of leaves in the forage indicates its good quality.…”

Effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Addition on Agronomic Characters, Photosynthetic Performance and Anatomical Structure of Alfalfa in Northern Xinjiang, China

“…Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a perennial leguminous plant with high yield, rich nutrition and strong adaptability [1,2]. Soil available nitrogen (AN) and available phosphorus (AP) deficiency are some of the most important factors limiting the productivity of alfalfa [3].…”

Effects of alfalfa levels on carcass traits, meat quality, fatty acid composition, amino acid profile, and gut microflora composition of Heigai pigs

“…Alfalfa, a kind of green fodder in traditional-style pig feeding systems in China, contains mainly insoluble dietary fiber, including cellulose, xylans, and lignin (5,6). However, other studies have reported that diets with a high fiber content may negatively affect feed intake and nutrient digestibility in growing pigs.…”