Library

eCommons

 

FORAGE QUALITY APPLIED RESEARCH: EVALUATION OF MEADOW FESCUE CULTIVARS IN ALFALFA; ASSESSMENT OF HAND-HELD NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROMETER FOR DRY MATTER COMPOSITION IN ALFALFA-GRASS FIELDS, AND DIET INFLUENCE ON FECAL METABOLIC FRACTION IN SHEEP

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorTacoma-Fogal, Rink
dc.contributor.chairCherney, Debbieen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberCherney, Jeromeen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberReed, Kristanen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberOverton, Thomasen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-05T18:48:05Z
dc.date.available2024-04-05T18:48:05Z
dc.date.issued2023-08
dc.description102 pagesen_US
dc.description.abstractForage quality plays a critical role in the overall health, productivity, and performance of ruminants driving production efficiency, improving profitability, and sustainability. Tools to measure forage quality are numerous and ones that will be discussed in this dissertation include evaluating different meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.) cultivars, handheld near-infrared spectrometry, and apparent digestibility as influenced by fecal mass. We evaluated the effect of meadow fescue (MF) grass cultivars insterseeded with alfalfa on grass proportion and nutritive value on commercial dairy farms in New York State. To achieve high-quality alfalfa-grass forage, a seeding rate of 1.1 kg hectare-1 for most of the MF cultivars resulted in optimal grass proportion of 20-30%. The tetraploid MF cultivars had lower neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and higher invitro true digestibility (IVTD) compared to other cultivars. Additional tools to improve forage quality involved the use of hand-held near-infrared spectrometry technology. Optimal grass proportions in alfalfa-grass mixtures range between 20 to 30%, creating an opportunity for calibration development to enable hand-held NIR spectrometers to estimate grass proportion in fresh alfalfa-grass mixtures. Model predictive capability for estimating grass content in alfalfa-grass mixtures yielded an R2 of 0.83 and a ratio of performance to deviation (RPD) of 2.6 when a sliding scanning technique versus a stationary technique was used. In addition, a modified fractionation method used to quantify bacterial mass in human fecal matter was evaluated as a method to determine bacterial mass in ruminant feces. The procedure was designed to separate the undigested feed fraction from the bacterial fraction, however, microscopic assessment revealed fibrous feed residue contamination in the bacterial pellet from sheep fecal samples. Alternative methods were performed to estimate the microbial mass in sheep feces. True digestibility was examined from sheep on either high corn grain or high soy hull diets. Results suggested differences in diet NDF level affects fecal microbial mass.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.7298/pgc8-8272
dc.identifier.otherTacomaFogal_cornellgrad_0058F_13950
dc.identifier.otherhttp://dissertations.umi.com/cornellgrad:13950
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1813/114775
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectDigestibilityen_US
dc.subjectFecal compositionen_US
dc.subjectForage compositionen_US
dc.subjectForage qualityen_US
dc.subjectMethod developmenten_US
dc.titleFORAGE QUALITY APPLIED RESEARCH: EVALUATION OF MEADOW FESCUE CULTIVARS IN ALFALFA; ASSESSMENT OF HAND-HELD NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROMETER FOR DRY MATTER COMPOSITION IN ALFALFA-GRASS FIELDS, AND DIET INFLUENCE ON FECAL METABOLIC FRACTION IN SHEEPen_US
dc.typedissertation or thesisen_US
dcterms.licensehttps://hdl.handle.net/1813/59810.2
thesis.degree.disciplineAnimal Science
thesis.degree.grantorCornell University
thesis.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy
thesis.degree.namePh. D., Animal Science

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
TacomaFogal_cornellgrad_0058F_13950.pdf
Size:
1.28 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Cornell Theses and Dissertations