EFFECT OF STAGE OF MATURITY OF LUCERNE AN D ITALIAN RYEGRASS ON THE DEGRADABILITY OF CELL-WALLS AND ORGANIC-MATTER IN THE RUMEN, MEASURED IN-VIVO

Lucerne and Italian ryegrass at 3 stages of maturity were evaluated in vivo by the nylon bag technique for NDF and OM rumen degradability ra te. Rye-grass NDF content and NDF degradability were higher (P < 0.01) with respect to alfalfa at all maturity stages. ADF contents were nea r equal. It was concluded that the method of calculation proposed for net energy values from ADF content with corrections for NDF content wa s inadequate for the 2 families of forages at all stages of maturity.