Benchmarking Forage Nutrient Composition and Digestibility

Abstract

Forage quality impacts diet dry matter intake and energy density, lactation performance, supplemental grain and protein needs, cow health and feed costs. Forage quality is highly variable both among and within forage types. Benchmarks for forage quality and variation in composition for selected nutrients and digestibility parameters are summarized herein from Dairy National Research Council (2001) tabular data and results from commercial feed testing labs.