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

Authors :
Domenico Ronga
Aldo Dal Prà
Alessandra Immovilli
Fabrizio Ruozzi
Roberto Davolio
Maria Teresa Pacchioli
Source :
Agronomy, Vol 10, Iss 6, p 917 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2020.

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.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20734395
Volume :
10
Issue :
6
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Agronomy
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.698ef9cc723c4855bbf12084ebf382d5
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10060917