EVALUATION OF FORAGE NUTRITIVE QUALITY BY MICRO-DIGESTION

Ruminal microdigestion of test forage samples (Medicago sativa, Trifolium subterraneum, Triticum aestivum, Hordeum leporinum, Lolium perenne and Vulpia spp.) was run concurrently with conventional digestion trials in an experiment devised to evaluate microdigestion as a technique for assessing the nutritive quality of forages common to southern Australia. Microdigestion was closely associated with in vivo digestibility. Significant variation in microdigestion estimates was attributed to basal diet, test forage, pouch fabric and individual sheep; microdigestion differences of the order of 2-3 units were detectable. The microdigestion technique possibly offers potential scope for providing unbiased assessment of forage nutritive quality under field conditions.