Festulolium fibre characteristics and digestibility as affected by maturity

This study compared the forage quality of Festulolium entries of festucoid (Hykor) and loloid attributes (Felopa and Norwegian candivars) with major cultivars of the parent species perennial ryegrass and meadow fescue, and with timothy. Forage NDF, iNDF, kdNDF and DDM were analysed at vegetative stage, early heading, heading and anthesis during spring growth (SG) and two subsequent regrowths over two production years at two locations in Norway. NDF and iNDF increased and kdNDF and DDM decreased with advancing maturity, mostly expressed in SG, with negative correlations between DDM and NDF and iNDF and ADL, and strong positive correlations with kdNDF. In SG, across years and locations, the content of NDF at heading stage was 30% higher and iNDF 400% higher in stems than in leaves, while stem kdNDF was about 50% of that in leaves. In general, timothy cv. Grindstad and Festulolium cv. Hykor had the highest NDF and iNDF and the lowest kdNDF values. Loloid entries of Festulolium were quite similar to perennial ryegrass, although the tetraploid entry proved better than the others with respect to forage quality. Regarding nutritive value, the festucoid and loloid types of Festulolium should be considered separate groups. The effect of year was more pronounced than that of location, for which the ranking of entries was quite similar. Loloid Festulolium is prone to winter damage, and, although it has higher nutritive value than the parent species, its use will depend on the conditions for winter survival.