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Despite a long history promoting improved forages, their adoption in sub‐Saharan Africa remains limited. Identifying cultivars and developing the right agronomic practices suited to specific forage systems can help reduce the feed gap in this region. This 2‐yr study was performed under rainfed conditions at the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research research station in Farakoba, Burkina Faso. Treatments included two planting methods (continuous rows 40‐cm apart vs. open pits spaced 40 × 40 cm) and three perennial grasses: Urochloa spp. cultivar Mulato II, Congo grass [U. ruziziensis (R. Germ. and C.M. Evrard) Crins] and Guinea grass [Megathyrsus maximus (Jacq.) B.K. Simon & S.W.L. Jacobs] cultivar C1. The experimental design was a randomized complete block under a split plot treatment arrangement, and planting method was the main plot (3 × 7 m) and the grass varieties the subplots (3 × 3 m). Plots were established in August 2018, and herbage accumulation (HA) and nutritive value (NV) were measured in 2018 and 2019. Regardless of planting method, Mulato II had greater total herbage mass (26 Mg ha–1) after 2 yr than did Congo grass (15 Mg ha–1) and cultivar C1 (12 Mg ha–1) (p ≤.05). Mulato II had the greatest crude protein (170 g kg–1), in vitro digestible organic matter (635 g kg–1), and metabolizable energy (89 MJ kg–1), and least neutral detergent fiber (537 g kg–1) concentrations, as compared to other cultivars (p ≤.05). Both HA and NV were greater (p ≤.001) for open pits spaced 40‐cm apart than the continuous rows for all cultivars, indicating that this planting method seems more appropriate to establish forage grasses. Mulato II showed potential to increase forage productivity and NV in Burkina Faso. Core Ideas: Mulato II showed greater performance in subhumid agroecosystems in Burkina Faso.Planting method affected establishment and productivity of perennial grasses.Forage cultivar and planting method can help bridge the feed gap in Burkina Faso. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An on‐farm study was conducted in the northern and Upper East regions of Ghana to investigate the productivity and nutritive value of irrigated ruzi grass [Urochloa ruziziensis (R. Germ. and C.M. Evrard) Crins] (syn. Brachiaria ruziziensis (R. Germ. and C.M. Evrard)] and forage sorghum (Sorghum almum) grasses as options against dry season feed scarcity and to understand associated market opportunities. Sixty participating farmers each established 100‐m2 plots which were sown at 15 kg ha–1 drilled in 60‐cm rows in the dry season of 2016 and 2017. Irrigation was by flooding of soil surface every alternate day throughout the period of the trial. At both regions, herbage accumulation and nutritive value of forage species were determined at four harvesting stages: 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks after planting (WAP) followed by 4‐wk intervals between harvests. At the end of the trial, fresh biomass was weighed, bundled, and sold in major livestock feed markets to estimate market price. Allowing forages to establish for only 8 wk resulted in two 4‐wk regrowth harvests with dry matter accumulation (DMA) ranging from 4.5 to 8.1 Mg DM ha–1 from both species and in both regions. Generally, herbage nutritive values in terms of crude protein, metabolizable energy (ME) concentration, and in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM) declined (P <.05) while DMA increased linearly with delay in harvest. While both grasses adapted well in the regions under irrigation, 8 WAP harvests provided the best balance between nutritive value and DMA. Irrigated fodder must be marketed more effectively since currently market prices are not closely related to nutritive value. Core Ideas: Productivity of ruzi grass and forage sorghum was evaluated under irrigation.Plant age at harvests affected regrowth ability of ruzi grass and forage sorghum.Harvest at 8 wk allowed two 4‐wk regrowth, best nutritive value, and herbage accumulation.Market potential for irrigated fodder varies spatially and is demand dependent.Market prices of feeds and irrigated fodder is not always a reflection of the quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited supply of quality feed is the most common problem limiting livestock productivity in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). Routine feed evaluation is indispensable for formulating balanced rations, feed characterization, safety, and minimizing the environmental impact of livestock. Traditional wet chemistry has not met this demand in SSA because it is time consuming, expensive, reliant on imported reagents and equipment that requires regular maintenance. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) is a rapid and accurate alternative. The NIRS can help meet the need to characterize locally available forages and feeds on the continent, thus allowing formulation of optimally balanced and safe rations, facilitating establishment of nutritive value‐based pricing, and improving feed marketing and environmental stewardship. Though several NIRS systems have been purchased in many SSA countries, few are currently used. Reasons include high upfront costs, lack of requisite technical capacity, lack of access to comprehensive wet chemistry‐based databases to develop and validate robust and accurate predictive equations, lack of access to or relevance of existing validated equations, and limited awareness about the value of NIRS. Recently developed portable devices can dramatically reduce cost, while providing flexibility and comparable accuracy to benchtop systems. Formation of NIRS consortia and communities of practice including public–private partnerships that link equipment, pool resources, and provide periodic training and troubleshooting, can address many of these problems. This paper elaborates the potential for using NIRS to improve feed analysis in SSA countries, the reasons for the low use of existing systems, and strategies to improve the adoption and use of NIRS. Core Ideas: Forage nutritive value analysis is crucial for solving feed problem in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA).Wet chemistry is expensive, time consuming, and dependent on reagents, limiting its use in SSA.Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) provides a quick, flexible and accurate alternative.NIRS use in SSA is limited by limited knowledge, cost, lab resources, and calibration equations for local feeds.Low‐cost, portable NIRS brands and regional NIRS consortia can solve resource limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a unique, biologically consistent, spatially disaggre-gated global livestock dataset containing information on biomass use, production, feed efficiency, excretion, and greenhouse gas emissions for 28 regions, 8 livestock production systems, 4 animal species (cattle, small ruminants, pigs, and poultry), and 3 livestock products (milk, meat, and eggs). The dataset contains over 50 new global maps containing high-resolution information for understanding the multiple roles (biophysical, economic, social) that livestock can play in different parts of the world. The dataset highlights: (i) feed efficiency as a key driver of productivity, resource use, and greenhouse gas emission intensities, with vast differences between production systems and animal products; (ii) the importance of grasslands as a global resource, supplying almost 50% of biomass for animals while continuing to be at the epicentre of land conversion processes; and (iii) the importance of mixed crop-livestock systems, producing the greater part of animal production (over 60%) in both the developed and the developing world. These data provide critical information for developing targeted, sustainable solutions for the livestock sector and its widely ranging contribution to the global food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]