Abstract
Two trials measured changes in the crude protein, degradable protein, non-protein nitrogen, acid detergent insoluble nitrogen, non-structural carbohydrates and cell-wall fractions of oat herbage ( Avena sativa L.) during air drying to make hay. Plant materials were whole aerial parts and separated leaf blade and non-leaf blade components (stems plus leaf sheaths and inflorescences). The non-protein nitrogen content in the standing crop was 4.1 and 3.5 g kg −1 and increased to 6.6 and 8.1 g kg −1 in hay, in 1991 and 1992, respectively. Field drying produced a significant decrease ( P < 0.05) in the amount of non-structural carbohydrates, the values decreasing from 303 to 228 g kg −1 and from 225 to 177 g kg −1, depending on the year. These changes produced higher concentration of cell-wall fractions in hay. In general, the chemical changes followed a similar pattern in both leaf blade and non-leaf blade materials. As a consequence of these changes, oat hay supplies less readily fermentable energy relative to ruminal N degradation than does fresh forage.
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