Effects of Harvest Time on the Yield and Quality of Winter Wheat Hay Produced in Northern Italy

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the yield and nutritional characteristics of winter wheat hay. A selection of cultivars recommended for three main purposes: grain, whole plant (biomass) and dual purpose (grain and biomass) production were cultivated and harvested from heading to grain dough stages. Yield dry weight (YDW), dry matter (DM) and undigested neutral detergent fiber (uNDF) increased with advancing maturity, ranging from 9 t ha−1, 20 and 11% of DM to 16 t ha−1, 43 and 17% of DM, respectively; while crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) decreased from 11 and 59% of DM to 6 and 54% of DM, respectively. Our study showed that dual purpose winter wheat cultivars displayed similar performance of CP, NDF and net energy for lactation, when harvested at heading or grain milk stages. In addition, winter wheat recommended to be harvested as whole plant showed similar values of YDW, sugar and starch contents, when harvested at grain dough and milk stages. These characteristics are strategic in hay production, allowing a more flexible harvesting strategy. These results might be useful to improve the hay production, given useful information on harvest time and improving agricultural sustainability covering the soil in autumn and winter.

Nutritional Value, Fermentation Characteristics and In Vitro Degradability of Whole Wheat Hay Harvested at Three Stages of Maturity

“…The higher DML in the late milk and dough stages might be due to the altered lignin composition of whole wheat hay, which was associated with the harvest stage maturity time. In support of our results, it has been concluded that the ideal time to harvest wheat is during the late milk stage, in term of the nutritive value of wheat hay [ 34 ]. As the wheat plant matures, ADL can integrate into other nutrients, resulting in decreased nutrient digestibility.…”

“…In our study, both NDF and ADF content decreased when the maturity stage increased, which corresponded with the findings of Wrobel et al [ 31 ], who reported that NDF content was lower for WCWH harvested during the dough stage compared to those during the pre-flowering stage. Further, they determined that as plants matured, grains filled with starch, which held a dilution effect on NDF content in the plant [ 34 ]. Thus, the decreased NDF and ADF content were explainable.…”

Comparison of Changing Cultivation Pattern on Morphological and Biochemical Characteristics of Forage of Two Types of Crop Legumes in The Tropical Climate of Southern Kerman Province

“…So, increasing fibers leads to reduce forage consumption by livestock (Ahmadi et al, 2016). In fact, highly fibered forage crops remain in the rumen for more time due to their slower rate of digestion and decreasing dry matter intake (Ronga et al, 2020). In the current study, dry matter intake in cowpea was more than in Tepary bean, which is because of the negative correlation of DMI with NDF.…”

Biometric characteristics of winter forage cereals grown under nitrogen fertilization in temperate rain conditions

“…=FWPP= Peso fresco de la planta -1 DWPP= Peso seco de la planta -1 , GFY= Rendimiento de forraje verde, DMY= Rendimiento de materia seca more forage yield than oats and wheat during and across the season. Crude protein is the most essential component for estimating the quality of silage especially in WFCs (Ronga et al 2020). During both the years at different locations all the WFCs at various NLs proved differences among each other for crude protein contents.…”

“…The individual relationship showed strongly positive while cumulative relationship with nitrogen doses showed moderate association among variables. values of our correlation componente más esencial para estimar la calidad del ensilado, especialmente en los WFC (Ronga et al 2020). Durante los dos años y en las diferentes localizaciones, todos los WFC en varios NL demostraron diferencias entre sí en cuanto al contenido de proteína cruda.…”