Morphological Characteristic, Chemical Composition and In Vitro Gas Production Fermentation Profiles of Alfalfa Hay at Early Bud Stage Harvested at Different Cuts and in the Afternoon and in the Morning

There are a little information about nutritive value of alfalfa harvested at different cuts and different cutting time (morning and afternoon) in semiarid climate condition of north east of Iran. Effects of different harvesting cuts and cutting time (6 A.M and 6 P.M) of alfalfa hay at early bud stage on chemical composition and in vitro gas production fermentation profiles were studied in this experiment. Alfalfa hay that harvested at spring cuts had more CP and Ash content, gas production, ME, NEl, SCFA (short chain fatty acid), and IVOMD (In vitro organic matter digestibility) and less NDF and ADF than summer cuts. Alfalfa that cuts in the morning had more CP content and less leaf content and leaf to stem ratio than alfalfa cuts in the afternoon. Cutting alfalfa in the morning and the afternoon had no effect on fermentation profiles of alfalfa hay. The results of this experiment show that alfalfa hay at early bud stage harvested in spring and in the afternoon had more nutritive value than alfalfa harvested in summer and in the morning.