• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Forage analysis tables

Help Support Ranchers.net:

N

Nicky

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
3,614
Reaction score
637
Location
N.E. Oregon
I've been trying to find the nutrient analysis of wheatgrasses and some of our native grasses. Any of the lists I can find don't have what I'm looking for :???:

Faster Horses, or someone must know how to find them. Am looking for intermediate and pubescent wheatgrass among others.
 
I havent had a lot of luck either but here is a link to something i did find. I will keep looking cause i am interested too! :D

https://extension.usu.edu/rangelands/files/uploads/Ruminant%20Nutrition/Deter%20forage%20value%20hay.pdf
 
I'll have to do some hunting, but I used to have some charts, somewhat similar to what H posted. Problem will be all the info is 35 years old. :oops:
 
I always went by Morrisons tables, or the National Resourse Counsel tables. But Morrisons are more then 60 years old, the Resourse councel are at least 30 years old.
These are only ball park figures anyway. There are so many things that vary. time or stage of harvest, climate, area where grown, how they were stored, etc. I always liked to work with rations. Liked to see if what I was feeding met what was believed to be the requirments. But do you know what? The old cow can still tell you almost as much about how well you meet her requirements.
 
Thanks all, keep looking if you feel like it. Couldn't copy and paste from 'H's article, but it started out saying Oregon is at an economic disadvantage in raising cattle :? And it's true! Not only do we have high winter feed costs, but we get about the lowest calf prices due to shipping to major feedlots. But, that's not what we're talking about right now.

It's so odd that any of the tables don't have anything but crested wheatgrass. As far as the native's FH, I guess some of the tables do have them. When you see most of them are 3 - 4% CP stem cured, you see why we feed protein in the fall/winter. What I was looking for on the intermediate and pubescent, was to see what the CP is at different stages of growth. Just curious, mainly cause one of Bruce's NRCP "experts" said intermediate is way higher in CP and that cattle like it better. I tend to be suspect of most things they say.

And I don't imagine it would matter much if the info is new or old, I don't think the values would change that much.
 
I know at one time they used to try to tell me that Crested and Western wheat grass retained their protein through out the winter. I can't find the articles where I read that though, so I may have dreamed it all up.
 
I have an old Morrisons Feed and Feeding book printed during thhe 1950's. It was always sort of my guide. I believe Intermediate wheat grass was rated as a little more feeding value then Crested Wheatgrass. A lot of people I know complained of Intermediate as have low feeding value, and being bulky and light. I think it depends on the stage when it was harvested. I believed the best time to harvest intermediate was just after the heads appear, It grows rapidly after that, get tall, more bulky, and would have more fiber. I found if cut during the boot stage or before it would have a slower come back, and next years crop might be lighter. I liked Intermediate for hay, but cows will pick out the better parts first if they can.

I live in a marginal area for grasses like Intermediate WG and brome. People to the west of me, if asked what is their best grass will tell you , Crested Wheat grass, I think I would name one of the native grasses. As far as winter grazing, I don't believe Crested or Western Wheat grass cures so well on the stem or retains their feed value real well, but people do sometimes use them for winter range.
 
Vigortone gives its dealers a 'Gold Book' that has a lot of information
in it. It does give Feed compostion of many grasses and feeds. It does
not give any information on Pubscent or Intermediate grass/hay.

Here is some info that was asked for:

Crested Wheat:pasture--Immature: 26.3 CP; 76 TDN; 28 DM
Crested Wheat: Pasture--Mature: 5.5CP; 54 TDN; 60 DM
It sure goes down nutrient wise as it dries up, and the 60 DM
means it is hard to digest. As Immature, it is excellent feed.

Native grass: short pasture: 8.8 CP; 46 TDN; 58 DM
Tall pasture: 5.2 CP; 52 TDN; 53 DM

I would say that the short pasture would be hard grass country,
and tall pasture would be more lush as it is lower (not much) in DM.
DM=dry matter for those who might not know. And DM is very
important when doing forage analysis.

There are tables for many other feeds. Ryegrass, Timothy hay,
wheat hay; wheat straw; Oat grain, hay or silage; orchardgrass;
fescue--hay or pasture; redtop pasture; sudan; switchgrass; tritical.
So if anyone wants to know about any of these, just post what
you would like me to look up.

Now for hay and grass samples that we have taken in this area, here
is a sample on a DM basis:
Hay Barley: 12.4 CP; TDN 65.1; DM 87.58 ADF (this is how digestible
the feed is, and is a very important part of your feed analysis):35.8.
This was pretty good feed. Digestible with good CP and TDN.

Grass Hay (mostly crested wheat); 10.6 CP; TDN 62.4 91.05 DM and
ADF 35.2. That ADF number indicates that it was cut at about the
right time. The higher this number is, the less digestible the feed.
10% CP is fine for a range cow. We feed this hay with no supplemnt
and get along great. Of course, we don't short them on feed, either.

Grass hay on the creek, again mostly Crested Wheat:
CP 11.4; TDN 62.9; DM 90.25; ADF 34.8

Here is Alfalfa, Brome and Crested Wheat:
17.43 CP; 60.54 TDN; 85.61 DM; 32.49 ADF

We bought some 'naked oats' and the protein in those was 19.18!!
They make great feed, especially if you pack them in a bucket... :D

Here was the analysis on some grass in Fallon County in August:
7.03 CP; 57.7 TDN; 39.3 ADF; 84.84 DM
You can see what happens when the grass dries out, nutrients
go DOWN.

This analysis was of a lot of Intermediate cut for hay:
10 CP, TDN 41, ADF 45; not the best feed indicated by the
TDN and ADF. Not much energy and not real digestible. It
most likely should have been cut earlier.

Here is some grass hay that was definitely cut too late:
CP 6.74; 42,15 TDN; ADF 44.35

Anyone that has read this far :wink: , here is a grass curve chart.
Forage quality and Dry matter intake
Excellent--14CP--62 TDN--2.7% of body wt for dry cow; 3% for lactating
Good--13CP--58 TDN--2.5% dry cow; 2.7 lactating
Medium--8 CP; 51TDN--2% dry cow; 2.5 lactating
Fair--6 CP--44--TDN--1.7% Dry cow; 2.2 lactating
Poor--4 CP--38--TDN--1.5% Dry cow; 2.0% lactating
-------------------------------------------------

In looking through my paperwork on forage testing, I haven't
found actuals of pasture grass analysis yet, but I will keep looking.
I did find a Feedstuffs newsletter that gave me Nutrient
analysis by region which covers Southeast USA; Great Plains USA;
Midwest USA and West USA and lists Alfalfa;
Bermuda; Fescue; Sedan; Cereal; Native; Grass; Silage; Brome. If anyone wants to know about that, just post or PM me.

Oh, as a chuckle, here's the analysis of PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS:
4.8 CP; 59 TDN. :wink: :p :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hope this helps!

I hope I haven't bored anyone too badly.
 
LazyWP said:
I know at one time they used to try to tell me that Crested and Western wheat grass retained their protein through out the winter. I can't find the articles where I read that though, so I may have dreamed it all up.
Click to expand...

Whoever told you that was wrong, sorry to say...it was really hard
on us to find that out. Forage in the northern climates lose so much
of their nutrients when they dry up or turn brown. We have tested
a lot of grass in the fall, and it is mostly 4% CP. We tested some
last year that was 2.7%. Mostly filler is all it is. That same grass
in this country would test as high as 20% CP in June. FWIW
 

Latest posts

Top