Determination of herbage quality and mineral matter in some pastures of the Sivrice District of Elazig Province in Turkey.

Investigating the herbage quality and mineral composition of pastures is crucial for understanding the nutritional dynamics of grazing ecosystems. This study analyzed the quality of herbage and mineral content in four unique natural pasture regions of the Sivrice District (Hazar Lake) in Elazig Province between 2022 and 2023. The average values determined in dry herbage over two years are as follows: crude protein content in leguminous plants was (CP) 21.21%, acid detergent fibre (ADF) 18.21%, and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) 33.89% of the sample consists of digestible dry matter (DDM) with a content of 74.71% and a dry matter intake (DMI) of 3.58%. The relative feed value (RFV) is 207.79%, while the potassium (K) content is 2.71%, magnesium (Mg) is 0.32%, calcium (Ca) is 2.66%, and phosphorus (P) is 0.42%. In grasses, the crude protein (CP) content is 13.75%, acid detergent fibre (ADF) is 27.49%, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) is 51.30%, with DDM of 67.49%, DMI of 2.37%, RFV of 124.32%, and K, Mg, Ca, and P contents of 2.54%, 0.20%, 0.54%, and 0.40%, respectively. In other plant families, the CP content is 18.30%, ADF is 25.22%, NDF is 35.21%, with DDM of 69.26%, DMI of 3.47%, RFV of 187.10%, and K, Mg, Ca, and P contents of 2.66%, 0.32%, 1.46%, and 0.32%, respectively. The two-year study indicated that all the pastures studied were in generally good condition in terms of herbage quality, but Pasture-4 (Surek village) had higher values than the other pastures in terms of HP, ADF, NDF, DDM, DMI, RFV, Ca and Mg, especially in legumes and plants belonging to other families; and Pasture-3 (Guney village) had higher values than the other pastures in terms of the same characteristics in grasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]