Variability of Nutritive Value of Forage Legume Leaves as a Protein Source for Organic Pig Farms

HAKL, J., DOSTÁLOVÁ, Anne, SKLENÁŘ, J. a KLEJZAR, T., 2019 Variability of Nutritive Value of Forage Legume Leaves as a Protein Source for Organic Pig Farms. In 18th International Symposium FORAGE CONSERVATION. Brno: Mendelova univerzita v Brně, s. 48-49. ISSN
Year2019
CathegoryOthers
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Abstract

Present research in animal nutrition within the European region is looking for “home-made” protein sources to avoid high dependency on imported soybean protein. The main objective of this study was to investigate the variability of nutritive value of legume leaves growing under organic management. In 2017, forage was sampled in the common stands of a lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) – red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) mixture across four locations in the first cut. Number of stems, maximal stem length and leaf weight ratio on a DM basis was assessed for both species in the samples where total DM and leaf production were calculated. Results show high variability in productivity and stand structure of mixture stand among locations and species but low variability was observed for leaf qualitative traits. This research has indicated that a lucerne – red clover mixture can be an effective source of forage legume leaves where species and stand structure have higher impact on productivity than leaf nutritive value.