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Show How Do You Evaluate a Bale of Hay and quality traits can be proven in test plots such as those conducted in Utah by Germain's , Inc., a 100 year old western seed firm. "Unless quality traits are bred into new varieties", says Ray Davis, Germain's Utah representative, "don't expect them to show (Continued on Page 7) fats, nitrogen -free extracts (sugars, starches and soluble sol-uble cellulose) and estimated esti-mated net energy (ENE). Cattle require five major types of nutrients energy, protein, minerals, vitamins and water. Energy is the nutrient most closely related re-lated to milk production and therefore the energy content con-tent of alfalfa hay is of greatest importance to dairymen. High energy alfalfa alf-alfa hay is also high in protein pro-tein content. There is a tremendous difference in the quality traits exhibited by separate alfalfa varieties. What is especially interesting is that these traits can be built into a new variety by its breeder. There is, of course, no guarantee that anew experimental experi-mental will turn out as plan -ned. However, both yield Although their exact IQ (intelligence quotient) may not be known.cows certainly certain-ly are not without their share of wisdom. At times, in fact, they're pretty smart. For hundreds of years cows have show a remarkable remark-able ability for detecting quality traits in alfalfa. Only recently, however, have dairymen and alfalfa growers grow-ers shown much interest inter-est in what the cows have known all along. For most people, even today, a bale of hay is just a bale of hay. Once the alfalfa Is cubed or baled few of us can tell whether it was cut at the bud stage or in full bloom. But the cows know the difference and the amount of milk they produce depends largely on the quality of their feed. Thus, the value of an alfalfa field should be determined not by the number of bales harvested but by what those bales will produce in terms of energy and pounds of milk. Just what are quality traits in alfalfa? Can you see them? Can you smell them? Does one variety have more quality traits than another? Can improper harvesting impair quality? The answers to these, and related questions, ques-tions, are now known. The most important quali- ty factor is the maturity of the plant when harvested. The best quality hay is that cut in the prebud or early bud stage when the plants have the highest proportion of leaves. With maturity the stems become larger, the lower leaves tend to drop off and the total amount of leaves decreases, resulting in less protein and more fiber. This is especially noticeable when alfalfa is cut past the one -tenth bloom stage. Leafiness is another significant quality trait since 70 percent of the total digestible protein of an alfalfa alfal-fa plant is in the leaves. A 100 pound bale of alfalfa leaves, for example, contains con-tains approximately 17 pounds of digestible protein pro-tein compared to only 5.1 pounds of digestible protein for an equal amount of alfalfa stems. Thus, tender, fine stem -med, leafy alfalfa is more nutritious than coarse, straw-like alfalfa roughage and therefore of higher quality. Color is another quality trait that can be observed visually. Bright green leaves indicate proper curing, the presence of nutrients nu-trients and that the hay was cut at an early stage. Deep coloring is also an indicator of good aroma, freedom from mold and relatively high carotene content. Palatability has no physical physi-cal dimensions. You can't see it. You can't feel it. But the cows apparently can sniff it. Animal nutritionists nutri-tionists believe that palatability palata-bility whets the appetite and encourages increased consumption. One thing is certain. ..if alfalfa lacks palatability, as every dairyman dairy-man knows, the cows will walk away from it. Texture and pliability of the leaves also relate to quality. Texture in alfalfa is often a confusing term. Basically, it describes the leaf to stem ratio. The greater the number of leaves and the fewer and finer the stems the higher the quality. Pliability describes how well the leaves and stems withstand mechanical harvesting. har-vesting. Excessive brittle -ness of either stems or leaves reduces quality. Some quality traits can be determined only by chemical analysis. These include: digestible protein (DP), total digestible nutrient nu-trient (TDN) consisting of protein, digestible fiber, (Continued from Page 6) HOW DO YOU EVALUATE A BALE OF HAY up at harvest time." One variety that was bred for Utah growing conditions con-ditions and which possesses a wide range of built-in quality traits is WL-306. It is now being grown commercially com-mercially in the state's major production areas. Top quality and yields of up to eight tons per acre with WL-306 have been reported re-ported by such well known farmers as Grant LeFevre, Elsinore; Neil Harper, Co -rinne; Junior B. Green, East Layton; Murry Peterson, Richfield; Tim Anderson, Sigurd; Ralph Meikle, Smithfield; Terry Stephenson, Stephen-son, Holden; Arden Spenser, American Fork; Jones Bros. Dairy, Morgan and the Brig-ham Brig-ham Young University farm at Provo. WL-306 is characterized by extreme leafiness and an abundance of dark green leaves all the way down the fine stems. The variety's resistance to bacterial wilt, pea aphid and spotted alfalfa alf-alfa aphid contributes to its reputation as a high quality alfalfa. In the final analysis, however, how-ever, what determines quality more than anything else is what occurs just before, be-fore, duringand immediately after harvesting. Unfortunately, Unfortun-ately, quality suffers from poor haymaking practices even if the alfalfa has been cut at the optimum stage. Dust, mold, objectionable odor, poor color and foreign for-eign matter are all symptoms symp-toms of improper harvesting. har-vesting. Leaf shatter often results from excess handling hand-ling of the hay when dry. Palatability suffers from dust accumulation. Exposure Expo-sure to rain or above average aver-age moisture causes leaching leach-ing of the nutrients and baling under these conditions can lead to mold, discoloration and spoilage. The increasing recognition recogni-tion of the importance of quality traits in alfalfa is bound to benefit both buyer and seller. The alfalfa grower grow-er will receive a premium for producing a better crop and the dairyman will know exactly what he's getting for his money. Thus, in the near future a bale of hay may no longer be just a bale of hay. It's true value will be determined not only by what it weighs but by what it's really worth -in terms of energy, weight gain and milk production. |