Table 1.
Nutrient composition (%) of bermudagrass (BG), sunn hemp (SH), and mixed forage BG + SH diets.
| Item | BG | SH | BG + SH | SEM | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % DM | |||||
| Dry matter | 91.1 | 90.0 | 91.5 | 1.40 | 0.81 |
| Crude protein (CP) | 10.3c | 17.8a | 14.0b | 0.58 | 0.01 |
| Acid detergent fiber (ADF) | 37.6c | 52.0a | 44.3b | 1.17 | 0.01 |
| Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) | 64.5a | 53.1b | 56.1b | 2.21 | 0.05 |
| Nonfibrous carbohydrate (NFC) | 15.5b | 18.0a | 16.3ab | 0.45 | 0.05 |
| Total digestible nutrient1 (TDN) | 62.2 | 58.9 | 60.6 | 0.68 | – |
| Minerals | |||||
| Calcium (Ca) | 0.34b | 0.85a | 0.45ab | 0.029 | 0.01 |
| Phosphate (P) | 0.22b | 0.26ab | 0.28a | 0.018 | 0.05 |
| Magnesium (Mg) | 0.16c | 0.45a | 0.22b | 0.007 | 0.01 |
| Potassium (K) | 1.32 | 1.24 | 1.36 | 0.09 | 0.59 |
| Sulphur (S) | 0.18 | 0.16 | 0.14 | 0.016 | 0.45 |
a,bMeans within row with a different superscript differ at P < 0.05.
1The TDN concentrations were calculated (Undersander et al., 1993) based on % NDF content for legume [TDN = 86.2 − (% NDF × 0.513)] and grass [105.2 − (0.667 × 64.5)]. For the combination pasture, TDN was calculated by each equation and then averaged.