Grass Age Intervals

Chemical Composition

First

July

Mid

August

Mid

September

Mid

October

Mid

November

Mid

December

Overall

Mean

SEM

LSD

DM%

80.88^d

89.49^c

90.77^b

95.09^a

91.17^b

96.60^a

89.77^c

1.22

^*

Ash%

13.45

11.06

11.63

12.23

10.72

13.03

11.73

0.99

NS

OM%

86.85

88.64

89.38

87.78

89.29

86.67

88.42

069

NS

CP%

5.05^c

7.72^b

8.09^a

7.28^b

5.08^c

4.40^d

6.21

0.48

^**

CF%

22.26^d

24.22^c

31.26^b

24.25^c

41.46^a

23.70^d

29.88

1.14

^**

EE%

5.30^b

7.20^a

4.33^c

3.39^d

5.66^b

2.80^e

4.96

0.38

^**

NFEE%

37.26^c

34.35^d

37.70^c

38.26^b

38.80^b

49.33^a

39.60

1.07

^**

NDF%

36.23^e

54.58^c

45.38^d

64.39^a

61.25^b

64.05^a

54.67

1.02

^**

Hemi-Cellulose%

4.48^f

8.27^d

6.99^e

19.12^b

11.90^c

30.11^a

14.00

1.42

^*

(ADF%)

31.75^e

46.36^b

38.39^c

46.67^b

49.35^a

33.94^d

40.74

1.48

^**

Cellulose%

14.05^d

29.55^a

23.37^b

30.44^a

24.21^b

20.07^c

21.47

2.32

^**

Lignin%

9.70^e

16.81^d

15.02^d

22.24^c

25.14^b

33.86^a

19.34

1.41

^*

ME MJ/kg/DM

7.77^b

6.63^c

8.81^a

6.60^c

6.17^c

6.16^c

6.88

0.14

^*