Morning vs. Afternoon Harvest Time of Alfalfa, Clover, and Barley Affect the Chemical Composition and Nutritional Value of Silage

The chemical composition of forages varies during the day. The natural fermentation characteristics of si-lage may be influenced by these variations. A study was conducted to investigate the effect of cutting time (morning vs. afternoon) on chemical composition, gas production parameters, and digestibility and fermen-tation characteristics of alfalfa, clover, and barley silage using the gas production method. Alfalfa, clover, and barley forages were harvested twice in the morning (06:00) and the afternoon (18:00). Forages were ensiled in laboratory silos in triplicate at each cutting time and analyzed after 45 days to determine fermen-tation characteristics. After 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, and 96 hours of incubation, the cumulative gas production was measured. After a 24-hour incubation period, the dry matter digestibility (DMD), organic matter digestibility (OMD), metabolizable energy (ME), pH, and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) were de-termined. Gas production at different times, water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), starch, acid detergent fiber (ADF), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content, net energy for lactation (NEl), and net energy for growth (NEg) were also measured. The results indicated that afternoon-cut forages had lower levels of NDF and ADF than morning-cut forages (P<0.05), as well as greater amounts of starch and WSC. Afternoon-cut ensiled forages had higher dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), NEl, and NEg and lower pH, significantly. Afternoon-cut forages had a higher gas production potential than morning-cut for-ages. In general, it may be concluded that delaying harvest time from morning to afternoon can improve the nutritional value of forage.