A two-year comparison on nutritive value and yield of eight lucerne cultivars and one red clover cultivar
Dannylo O. Sousa
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, Sweden
Department of Animal Science, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorHanne H. Hansen
Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Search for more papers by this authorOla Hallin
The Rural Economy and Agricultural Society Sjuhärad, Länghem, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorLuiz G. Nussio
Department of Animal Science, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Elisabet Nadeau
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, Sweden
The Rural Economy and Agricultural Society Sjuhärad, Länghem, Sweden
Correspondence
Elisabet Nadeau, Department of Animal Environment and Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 234, 532 23 Skara, Sweden.
Email: elisabet.nadeau@slu.se
Search for more papers by this authorDannylo O. Sousa
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, Sweden
Department of Animal Science, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorHanne H. Hansen
Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Search for more papers by this authorOla Hallin
The Rural Economy and Agricultural Society Sjuhärad, Länghem, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorLuiz G. Nussio
Department of Animal Science, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Elisabet Nadeau
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, Sweden
The Rural Economy and Agricultural Society Sjuhärad, Länghem, Sweden
Correspondence
Elisabet Nadeau, Department of Animal Environment and Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 234, 532 23 Skara, Sweden.
Email: elisabet.nadeau@slu.se
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Red clover (Trifolium pratense) and lucerne (Medicago sativa) are among the most common legume species used for ruminant feeding systems. Besides the greater nutritive quality and first-year ley yield compared to lucerne, red clover decreases its yield over the years. However, under unfavourable soil conditions the persistency of lucerne can be compromised, not performing as expected. This study compared yield and chemical composition of eight lucerne cultivars and one tetraploid red clover cultivar, with similar growth capacity as lucerne, replicated over two years. In the second year, four lucerne cultivars and the red clover cultivar were analysed for crude protein (CP) fractions, dry matter and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility. A randomized block design was used with three field blocks per cultivar for the multiple comparisons within each year. There were differences in DM yield, concentrations of CP and NDF and CP fractions among the lucerne cultivars, but the differences were inconsistent between years and between growth cycles within year. The red clover cultivar had lower CP and NDF concentrations than a majority of the lucerne cultivars, and greater in vitro organic matter digestibility compared to all of the lucerne cultivars. Also, the red clover cultivar had greater rumen undegradable-to-degradable CP ratio but confirmed its lower yield persistency compared to the lucerne cultivars.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have declared that there is no conflict of interest.
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