AND WEEPING LOVEGRASS

OLD WORLD BLUESTEMS

Old World bluestems (OWB) produce high quality forage during early summer and their quality decreases rapidly as the plants form stems. Date of harvest has a greater effect on forage quality than does variety. We found little difference in digestibility and crude protein of 8 OWBs when harvested at similar growth stages. Early maturing varieties such as 'Ganada' had higher digestibility and crude protein only in early spring and their quality decreased similar to that of other OWBs. 'WW-Iron Master' OWB forage was generally 1 to 2 percentage units more digestible and slightly higher in crude protein than 'WW-Spar'.

Leaves of OWBs were generally 5 to 10 percentage points higher in digestibility than stems. Stems harvested after heading only provide animal maintenance and not weight gain. Forage quality is more important than quantity. Good quality hay is obtained if you harvest it within a few days after heading.

Average forage yield, crude protein, and digestibility of WW-Spar OWB from first heading until seed ripe 4 weeks later.

WEEPING LOVEGRASS

Weeping lovegrass produces high quality forage only during May and its quality decreases rapidly as the season progresses. Weeping lovegrass harvested in early June will be 60% digestible and forage intake by steers will be 2% of their body weight/day for an estimated weight gain of 0.6 lb/day. However, weeping lovegrass harvested in early July will only be 53% digestible and forage intake 1.6% of body weight for an estimated weight gain of 0 lb/day. Weeping lovegrass needs to be harvested just before or shortly after heading in early June to have acceptable quality. Stems of weeping lovegrass are only 30 to 40 % digestible and by themselves will not maintain an animal's weight. Digestibility needs to be near 50% to maintain an animal's weight.