Feeding value for milk production of U. S. No. 3 and sample grade Korean lespedeza hay.

Hay is one of the most important feed crops on American dairy farms. More than one-third of the nutrients furnished dairy cows comes from hay. In the States of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia and North Carolina annual lespedeza has become one of the important hay crops. Because many weeds start to grow in the spring before the lespedeza plants are large enough to compete and because of the grain straw left on the field if the lespedeza is grown in a grain crop, the hay often contains large quantities of foreign material. Standards of quality for lespedeza hay (1), based on certain physical factors, have been issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. Recognizing the small amount of information on relation of official grade of hay, especially lespedeza hay, to its feeding value for milking cows, the Bureau of Dairy Industry, in cooperation with the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station and the Grain Branch, Production and Marketing Administration, U.S.D.A., undertook investigations at the Dairy Experiment Station, Lewisburg, Tenn., to determine the comparative feeding value of some grades of lespedeza hay. In this work, grades of lespedeza hay were used which appeared most closely to represent the greater part of the lespedeza hay produced. It was recognized that much of the hay now produced is high in foreign material, so hays selected for the investigations contained a considerable mixture of foreign materials. The investigations continued over 2 yr. Each year a feeding test was conducted comparing the value of U. S. no. 3 Leafy Green Lespedeza hay with U. S. Sample Grade Extra Leafy Lespedeza hay.