Kowing Ash Content in Hay and Livestock
It has no nutritional value for livestock and adds unnecessary weight to purchased hay, increasing the cost. Excess ash content can reduce milk and meat production, cause sand colic in horses, and reduce the number of nutrients the animal can absorb. Ash is the total mineral content of the feed. Inner ash is a natural mineral found in plants, some of which have nutritional value for livestock such as calcium, potassium, and phosphorus.
Features of Ash Content in Hay and Livestock
On average, forage has an internal ash content of 6%, while alfalfa has an internal ash content of 8%. Testing Hay Rakes Studies conducted at the University of Minnesota, Penn State, and the University of Wisconsin evaluated four types of hay rakes and their contribution to the alfalfa hay ash content. Joints, rotary harrows, side rails and wheel rakes were evaluated at all sites during the two cuts in 2015. Hay samples are collected at four stages of harvest: waiting for feed and after cutting, raking, and baling. The samples were analyzed in terms of ash content and roughage nutritional value. Use the hay rake at a standard speed according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Studies have shown that the type of raking affects the ash content after raking. Wheel rakes consistently resulted in the highest ash content, while hay consolidation and sidebar rakes resulted in the least ash.
Hay and Livestock | great price
Hay can be an inexpensive insurance to get your herd through the forage gap in the fall and early winter, but it can rapidly get pricey.
A good amount of total digestible nutrients and crude protein can be found in high quality pasture.
A farmer or rancher can reduce their requirement for supplemental nourishment during this time gap by using high-quality fodder.
The need for additional feed purchases to ensure enough nutrition might considerably increase if the quality of the hay is compromised to save a few bucks.
You might discover that you need to spend more money on feed than hay, as opposed to feeding hay with feed as a supplement.
But what happens more frequently is that the same amount of feed supplements are given along with hay that is of poor quality.
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