• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.183-186
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• 1990

Monensin administered as a slow release capsule to Droughtmaster steers grazing mixed pastures containing Stylosanthes hamata or grass pastures fertilized with N, had no effect on growth rate over 111 day period. Monensin significantly increased the level of propionic acid (p<0.001) and decreased the level of butyric acid (p<0.01) in the rumen. The lack of response to monesin was partly attributed to the poor pasture conditions and growth rate of the steers during part of the experimental period. An implant of oestradiol improved growth rates during the period of poor forage quality and in the subsequent 56 days when pastures were of high quality following rain. Mean growth rates over the entire 157 days for control, monensin and monensin/oestradiol treatments were 0.37, 0.37 and 0.50 kg/d respectively. It was concluded that when pasture conditions are sufficient only for the maintenance of liveweight, production can be improved by an oestradiol implant but not by feeding an ionophore such as monensin.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.719-723
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• 2010

Ingestion of forage containing a large quantity of soluble oxalate can result in calcium deficiency and even death of livestock. Fertilization is one of the most practical and effective ways to improve yield and nutritional quality of forage. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization (150, 300 and 600 kg/ha) across varying levels (150, 300 and 600 kg/ha) of potassium (K) on oxalate accumulation in napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum). Application of N at 300 kg/ha produced higher dry matter yield than at 150 or 600 kg/ha, while K fertilization had no effect on yield. In general, N fertilization did not affect the soluble and total oxalate contents, but slightly affected the insoluble oxalate content. Soluble oxalate content showed an increasing trend and insoluble oxalate content showed a decreasing trend with increasing K level, but total oxalate content remained relatively constant. There were significant interactions between N and K fertilization for the content of soluble and insoluble oxalate fractions. The greatest increase in soluble oxalate content with N level at 300 kg/ha was found at the high level (600 kg/ha) of K application. The greatest increase in insoluble oxalate content with N level at 600 kg/ha was found at the low level (150 kg/ha) of K application. These results indicated the possibility of controlling the content of soluble and insoluble oxalate fractions in forage by fertilization.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.146-150
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• 1995

The yield performance and nutrient quality of barley for pellets making from whole crop material were discussed during 1993-1994. Barley (cv. Olbori) was grown on paddy land after rice cutivation and was harvested at early stage of physiological maturity. A column type of whole crop pellets was produced by 1.5cm diameter and 2.5cm height. Barley war evaluated as a suitable materials for whole crop pellet making. Barley produced higher yield and better qualitative roughage in the utilization of pellet making than in the silage making. Dry matter yields were obtained 12.02 MTha in pellet making and 11.70 MT/ha in silage making. Net energy value of barley pellet were 6.54 MJ in net energy lactation and 635 SV in starch equivalent net energy. Feeding of barley pellet improved milk production of daily cattle Daily milk yields per head were 25.1 liter in silage feeding and 25.9 liter in pellet feeding. Production cost of pellets and silages made from whole crop barley were 169.07 won/kg and 124.15 won/kg dry matter, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1709-1717
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• 2009

This review presents a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to assist Asian smallholder dairy farmers in identifying the possible causes for their poor farm performance and profitability. When assessing farm profitability, these indicators can be split into two types, those diagnosing problems with feeding management and those indicating poor herd management. As home grown forage is generally cheaper to source than purchased forage, the more produced on farm, the better. Too many stock on limited land is a common feature on Asian dairy small holdings. Unlike other classes of livestock, milking cows have very high nutrient requirements, therefore high quality forages and concentrates are essential for profitable dairying. Milk income less feed cost is one of the simplest and easy to measure indicators of farm profitability and is also quick to respond to small changes in farm practices. Problems with herd management can be diagnosed using measures such as the proportion of cows actually milking in the herd or their peak yield and persistency of production. There are also simple indicators of herd reproductive performance and of health and growth of young stock that assist in searching for the underlying causes of poor farm profitability.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.660-664
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• 2003

An attempt was made to evaluate the effects of total mixed rations (TMR) containing 17.5% forage neutral detergent fiber (NDF) from paragrass, paragrass+cassava chips and corn silages on the performance of dairy cows in the tropics. Experimental dietary treatments contained a similar content of total NDF, total non-fiber carbohydrates, crude protein and energy. Maximum and minimum temperature humidity index during the experimental period were 79.1-80.6 and 66.8-68.6, respectively. Among silage sources, there were no differences (p>0.05) in concentrations of acetic and propionic acids and butyric acid was undetectable. Concentration of lactic acid was higher (p<0.01) in corn silage but its pH was lower (p<0.01) than in paragrass and paragrass+cassava silages. Dairy cows on TMR containing corn silage not only gained more weight (161 and 46 vs. -189 g/d) but also consumed more feed (18.47, 15.84 and 14.49 kg/d), and produced more milk (23.89, 22.03 and 20.83 kg/d), 4% fat corrected milk (25.47, 24.05 and 22.02 kg/d), solids-not-fat (1.99, 18.3 and 1.73 kg/d) and total solid (3.10, 2.85 and 2.64 kg/d) compared with those on TMR containing paragrass+cassava and paragrass silages, respectively (p<0.01). Dairy cows on TMR containing paragrass+cassava silage were better in these respects (p<0.01). These results suggest that in formulating diets on an equal NDF basis for different forage qualities, diets higher in forage quality can stimulate higher DMI for dairy cows in the tropics and thus improve productivity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.75-75
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• 2017

Rye is cultivated on about 30,000ha domestically for forage and green-manure production in Korea. 'Daegokgreen' has been developed as a good quality rye cultivar for forage and green-manure, which was doubled-chromosome by colchicine treatment of diploid rye cultivar 'Gogu' in 2010. By the colchicine treatment with 0.05% for 12 hours at $2^{nd}$ leaf stage of 'Gogu', 31 tetraploid plants were obtained and they produced 2,470 seeds with 135 spikes. There was 4.4 in the number of spikes per plant, 18.3 in grain number per spike, and 37.6 g in the1,000-grain weight. The heading date of 'Daegokgreen' was April 11, which was two days later on average compared with 'Gogu'. The biomass (fresh weight) of 'Daegokgreen' was 3,701kg, which was similar to 'Gogu'. The average crude protein content of 'Daegokgreen' was 8.9%, which was 1.0% point higher than 'Gogu'. 'Daegokgreen' was found to be strong resistant to winter-kill and can be adapted to before maize cultivation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.366-377
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• 2013

We examined the nutritive value of common grass species in the semi-arid rangelands of Borana in southern Ethiopia using local experience based herbage preference (LEBHP) perception and laboratory techniques. Local pastoralists in the study area were asked to identify common grass species and rank them according to the species' preferences and palatability to cattle. The pastoralists listed a total of 15 common grass species which were then sampled during the main rain and cold dry seasons and analyzed for crude protein (CP), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) and ash content to verify pastoralists' claim regarding the quality of individual species. The relative feed value (RFV) and dry matter digestibility (DMD) were also calculated using NDF and ADF contents. Spearman's rank correlation was used to examine possible relationships between laboratory results and pastoralists' experience on grass quality. Cenchrus ciliaris, Chrysopogon aucheri, Digitaria milanjiana, Eragrostis papposa and Panicum maximum were the top five species based on LEBHP perception. There were indications of inconsistency in terms of LEBHP perception among the different pastoral communities. The chemical composition of all grass species showed significant (p<0.05) variation between sites, seasons and species. The results showed that the CP values for the Borana rangelands were in the range of 8.7% in the main rain season to 5.1% for the cold dry season. The fiber constituents were relatively low in the main rain season compared to the cold dry season. Overall, Digitaria milanjiana had the highest CP (16.5%) content, while the least was recorded with Heteropogon contortus (10.8) and Aristida adoensis (9.8%) during the main rain season. It seems that the spatial variability of landscapes within the wider geographical regions, soil properties and texture, and land-use patterns probably contributed to site differences in species quality. Generally, the RFV of individual grass species was significantly (p<0.05) varied between and within sites. The ranking of species by pastoralists according to their preferences by cattle was highly correlated with the chemical composition of laboratory results of individual grass species with 'r' values for CP (0.94), ash (0.95), NDF (-0.98), ADF (-0.93) and ADL (-0.93). We suggest the complimentary use of LEBHP and laboratory techniques in evaluating the nutritive quality of rangeland forage species for sustainable animal production.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.105-114
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• 2022

Objective: This work was carried out to evaluate the effect of pasture (PA) feeding on buffalo meat quality compared with buffaloes reared intensively with the use of corn silage as a forage base or alternatively with polyphite meadow hay (PH). Methods: Thirty Mediterranean bull buffaloes were distributed into three experimental diet groups: maize silage (MS), PH, and PA. The animals were slaughtered at a live weight of 250 kg, and carcass and meat quality were evaluated. After 7 days of ageing, physical and chemical parameters of longissimus thoracis muscle were determined. To evaluate lipid oxidation the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances was tested at 7 and 14 days, and also the fatty acid profile was recorded by gas chromatography. Results: The PA group, even if it showed carcass parameters lower than those of the silage maize group, reported a good meat percentage (60.59% vs 58.46%, respectively) and lower fat percentage (p<0.001). PA-fed animals showed meat redness, and even if only on raw meat, shear force was higher than the others. Low values of conjugate linoleic acid, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and n-3 were reported in the silage maize group. Principal component analysis (PCA) clearly showed the influence of different diets on meat quality, and PCA1 and PCA2 explained 82% of the variability. Conclusion: Buffaloes reared on PA had meat with high nutritional value even if they showed poor carcass performance compared to the animals fed on MS. Buffaloes fed on polyphite hay were in an intermediate position, similar to grazing animals, according to the same nutritional determinations.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.254-261
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• 2014

This study was to assess the effect of sowing mixed legume forage and applying cattle manure on the productivity and feed value of whole-crop barley (WCB) as a representative of winter crops and to estimate feeding capacity of Korean native cattle (Hanwoo) per unit area by defining optimal application level of cattle manure for more fertile soil and manure recycling for the purpose of reduced environmental pollution and efficient production of organic forage contributable to production of organic animal products. Sowing mixed legume forage significantly (p<0.05) increased yields of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) for WCB compared to WCB alone sowing, but there was no difference between mixed sowing treatments. The yields of DM, CP and TDN were significantly (p<0.05) highest in 100~150 kg N/hg. The CP and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents were highest in mixed sowing with hairy vetch, followed by sowing mixed forage pea and WCB alone (p<0.05). There were no differences in CP and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents among cattle manure application levels. As nitrogen application level increased, ADF content increased (p<0.05), but TDN content decreased (p<0.05). Feeding capacity of organic Hanwoo (head/ha) weighing 450 kg of body weight with 400 g of daily gain significantly (p<0.05) increased due to mixed sowing with legume forage, and with increasing application levels of fermented cattle manure, feeding capacity significantly (p<0.05) increased. The results indicate that mixed-sowing of WCB and legume forage not only cut nitrogen application level of fermented cattle manure by over 50 kg per ha but also increased their feed value and productivity, and feeding capacity. This would be contributable to diversity of forage resources as well as production of organic animal product by creating low cost and high quality of forage.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.369-378
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• 2018

Objective: The impact of forage feeding strategy on growth performance, ruminal fermentation and nutrient digestibility in post-weaning calves was investigated. Methods: Forty-five female Holstein calves (body weight [BW] = $79.79{\pm}0.38kg$) were enrolled in the 35-d study at one week after weaning and randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments. All diets were fed as total mixed ration containing 60% (dry matter [DM] basis) of basal starter feed and 40% (DM basis) of forage, but varied in composition of forage source including i) alfalfa (40% DM, AH); ii) alfalfa hay (26.7% DM)+oat hay (13.3% DM; OH); iii) alfalfa hay (26.7% DM)+corn silage (13.3% DM; WS). Results: Dry matter intake was not different among treatment groups (p>0.05). However, BW (p<0.05) and average daily gain (p<0.05) of calves fed AH and OH were greater than WS-fed calves, whereas heart girth was greater in OH-fed calves than those fed AH and WS (p<0.05). Ruminal fermentation parameters including proportion of butyric acid, acetated-to-propionate ratio, concentration of total volatile fatty acid, protozoal protein, bacterial protein, and microbial protein in rumen were the highest in OH (p<0.05) and the lowest in WS. Compared with the AH and WS, feeding oat hay to postweaning calves increased crude protein digestibility (p<0.05), and decreased duration of diarrhea (p<0.05) and fecal index (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our results suggested that partially replacing alfalfa hay with oat hay improved ruminal fermentation, nitrogen utilization, and reduced incidence of diarrhea in post-weaning dairy calves.