We evaluated the effect of forage quality on response of cattle to supplementation with cooked molasses blocks. In Exp. 1, 175 heifers had ad libitum access to prairie hay (5.2% CP, DM basis). Treatments were a 2 x 3 factorial: supplementation with 0 or 1.96 kg/d of alfalfa DM, and supplementation with no cooked molasses block or with a low-protein or a high-protein cooked molasses block (14.4 ...

Plant Species and Variety Forage quality refers to digestible nutrient content (i.e., energy, protein), palatability and digestibility of the forage plant. Legumes (alfalfa, medics, cloves, vetch) are the highest quality group of forage grown in pastures. They are high in protein, energy (digestibility), and minerals. They also “fix” nitrogen fertilizer, making them very economical to grow. Inc...

Bumble-bee declines across Europe have been linked to loss of habitat and forage availability due to agricultural intensification. These declines may have severe ecological and commercial consequences since bumble-bees pollinate a range of wildflowers and crops. In England, attempts are being made to reintroduce forage resources through agri-environment schemes, yet there are few data on how th...

In this paper a novel approach is presented for generating RDF graphs of arbitrary complexity from various spreadsheet layouts. Currently, none of the available spreadsheet-to-RDF wrappers supports cross tables and tables where data is not aligned in rows. Similar to RDF123, XLWrap is based on template graphs where fragments of triples can be mapped to specific cells of a spreadsheet. Additiona...

Guaranteed Annuity Options (GAOs) are options available to holders of certain pension policies. Under these contracts, policyholders contribute premiums into a fund managed by the insurer. At retirement, the policyholders buy life annuities at a guaranteed rate provided by the original insurer, or annuitize with another insurer. If the guaranteed annuity rates are better than the prevailing rat...

Forage chicory is a productive forage resource for eastern North America; however, many soils in the region are acidic and deficient in P and might restrict the widespread use of forage chicory. There is no published information on response of forage chicory to P, or P acquisition strategies for morphologically different chicory cultivars. The literature suggests the following null hypothesis: ...

Recent research in range ecology has emphasized the importance of forage quality as a key indicator of rangeland condition. However, we lack tools to evaluate forage quality at scales appropriate for management. Using canopy reflectance data to measure forage quality has been conducted at both laboratory and field levels separately, but little work has been conducted to evaluate these methods s...

Intake and digestibility trials were conducted with sheep to evaluate the effect of adding various levels of a typical fibrous grass forage (neutral detergent fiber, NDF = 68%) to a high quality, low fiber (NDF = 22%) brassica forage. Four forage rape:orchardgrass hay diets (0, 40, 70, 100% rape content on a dry matter basis) were fed to groups of six Polled-Dorset crossbred growing wether lamb...

Prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) is both a benefit and hindrance to the livestock industry in the southwestern U.S. It competes with herbaceous forage but is sometimes used as emergency feed during drought. Spineless prickly pear (0. fiscus-indica Engelm. and 0. rufida Engelm.) has been planted in some regions of the southwest but little is known about its nutritional value. Our objectives were to de...

One of the most common problems faced by hay or silage producers is how to manage production schedules around unfavorable weather. Inevitably, some wilting forage crops are damaged by rainfall each year, and producers often inquire about the effects of rain damage, and what impact this may have on forage quality, silage fermentation, and animal performance. Actually, the problem is more complex...