Late-afternoon-cut hay makes more milk

Mayland, Hank and Shewmaker, Glenn (2000) Late-afternoon-cut hay makes more milk. Hoard's Dairyman. 10 May 2000. p. 342.

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Abstract

Pouring a glass of milk is only a few steps
away from pouring a glass of sunshine. Solar
energy drives photosynthesis in green plants
to produce simple sugars. When these plants are
eaten by the cow, those sugars provide energy to
rumen microorganisms which, in turn, provide
energy to the cow for milk production.
On warm sunshiny days, soluble sugars accumulate
in plants faster than the plants can use
them. At night, photosynthesis does not operate,
and there is a loss of soluble sugars. This whole
process results in a daily cycling of soluble sugars
in the forage. Figure 1 clearly shows the gradual
accumulation of plant sugar which builds as
the day progresses. The drop in plant sugars occurs
sometime after sunset.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	1013
Subjects:	Practical farm efficiency Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:58
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2016 15:37
Item ID:	1234
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1234