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ORIGINAL PAPER
Effect of cultivar and the number of harvests on the feed value,
protein fractions and nutrient digestibility of Festulolium braunii
forage in young cattle
1
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering,
Department of Animal Nutrition, Feed Science and Cattle Breeding, Oczapowskiego 5, 10-719, Olsztyn, Poland
2
Poznań University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Horticulture and Biotechnology,
Department of Grassland and Natural Landscape Sciences, Dojazd 11, 60-632 Poznan, Poland
3
University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Institute of Animal Nutrition and Bromatology,
Department of Bromatology and Nutrition Physiology, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
4
The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology of Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences, Instytucka 3, 05-110 Jabłonna, Poland
Publication date: 2025-06-26
Corresponding author
M. Borsuk-Stanulewicz
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering, Department of Animal Nutrition, Feed Science and Cattle Breeding, Oczapowskiego 5, 10-719, Olsztyn, Poland
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Faculty of Animal Bioengineering, Department of Animal Nutrition, Feed Science and Cattle Breeding, Oczapowskiego 5, 10-719, Olsztyn, Poland
KEYWORDS
Festulolium braunii cultivarFestulolium silagenutritional valueproteinfractionsthe number of harvests
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The effect of three Festulolium braunii cultivars (Felopa, Perun,
and Lofa) and five successive cuts on the nutritional value of herbage and silage
was evaluated. The chemical composition, carbohydrate and protein fractions,
ensilability, fermentation parameters were determined. The nutrient digestibility
of experimental diets containing silages made from different F. braunii cultivars
was determined by the simple balance methods in 45 Holstein-Friesian bulls
(three groups of 15 animals) at the end of fattening. The experiment lasted
90 days, the animals were fed a total mixed ration. Festulolium braunii cv.
Lofa and third-cut and fourth-cut herbage were characterized by the most
desirable chemical composition. Festulolium braunii cv. Felopa had the highest
concentration of water-soluble carbohydrates (P = 0.046) and the highest
buffering capacity (P = 0.005). First-cut silage had the highest content of lactic
acid (P = 0.018). The protein fraction composition of silage varied across cuts,
and significant differences between cultivars were found only for fraction B1
(P = 0.046), whose proportion was highest in cv. Perun. Fourth-cut silage had
the lowest proportion of fraction A (P ≤ 0.01) and the highest proportion of
fraction B1 (P = 0.037). The nutrient digestibility coefficients of experimental
diets were influenced by the number of cuts (P ≤ 0.05) and the interaction of
both factors (P ≤ 0.01). The study confirmed the high feed value of F. braunii,
which provides high-quality forage for ruminants. The significant differences in
the nutritional value of F. braunii herbage and silage observed among cultivars
and cuts indicate that various cultivars cut multiple times at different harvest
dates should be tested in future studies.
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