THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF WEEPING LOVEGRASS DURING THE SPRING SEASON

A continuous digestibility trial, lasting 50 days with subperiods of 5 days each, was made with the spring regrowth of Eragrostis curvula grown in the semi-arid region of Argentina. Five sheep were used to measure the digestibility of DM, organic-matter, cell-wall contents and N. DM yield was estimated simultaneously. The fall in digestibility of all fractions examined was described by quadratic equations. Cell-wall digestibility explained 91% of the variation in organic-matter digestibility. The rate of decrease in crude-protein digestibility increased with time and was particularly noticeable after about 40 days of growth. Digestible DM yield increased at a decreasing rate as maturity advanced, but digestible crude-protein content decreased linearly throughout the trial. It is concluded that the optimum stage of maturity for weeping lovegrass utilization depends upon the performance required from the animals that are to utilize it.