DIGESTIBILITY, CRUDE PROTEIN AND YIELD CHANGES IN MATURING GRASS-LEGUME HAY

. Herbage samples were collected at weekly intervals from five Adelaide Hills grass-clover hay crops between early September and early December 1966. Per-centage digestibility in do increased slightly during early spring to reach a maximum of 70 % in mid-October and then declined. In the last four weeks, the rate of decline increased to 0.8 % per day. The crude protein percentage declined at an approximately constant rate throughout the experimental period. A decline in dry matter yield was also recorded during the last four weeks. Since this occurred concurrently with the decline in digestibility, there were losses from the sward of up to half of the digestible dry matter. It was observed that some farmers cut their hay crops after much of this loss had taken place. I