The Change in Nutritive Value in Timothy, Red Clover and Lucerne in Relation to Phenological Stage, Cutting time and Weather Conditions

This report describes for timothy, red clover and lucerne at Ultuna, Sweden: (a) The average change of crude protein content with time and the phenological development. The decline of the crude protein content during specific years is also discussed in relation to the dry matter growth and the prevailing weather conditions. (b) The average change of energy content with time and the phenological development. The variations in energy content during specific years are discussed in conjunction with variations of the mean day temperature. Strong regressions are established between crude protein content and the phenological stage, also between crude protein content and time. The change of energy content was better correlated to the phenological stage than to time and degree days during the first growth period. For lucerne, this also applied during other periods.