These experiments were to investigate the variations of rye on forage quality, productivity and β-carotene concentration affected by maturity in Pyeongchang region. Limited information are available about how forage quality and β-carotene content are affected by various factors. Samples were collected from rye harvested every 5 days, from April 25 to May 31 (April 25, April 30, May 4, May 9, May 15, May 21, May 25 and May 31). Dry matter (DM) content, plant height, DM yield and total digestible nutrient (TDN) yield increased continuously with the progressed maturity. However, crude protein (CP) content, in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and relative feed value (RFV) decreased markedly with the delay of harvesting, while TDN content decreased from April 25 till May 15, then followed by a stable fluctuation. Conversely, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) value increased and then fluctuated slightly after blooming stage. For quality of plant parts, stem contained the lowest CP content and RFV value, and the highest ADF and NDF contents compared with other parts, while the grain showed the higher CP, IVDMD, RFV and lower fiber contents than others. With the plant matured, leaf proportion decreased while stem and grain proportion increased, and feed value of all the three parts decreased till blooming stage and followed by a stable phase. β-carotene concentration showed its highest on jointing stage, and then fell down sharply on the sequential stages. In conclusion, harvest around May 15 (blooming) is proper for forage rye if directly consumed by livestock as green chop in Pyeongchang under the consideration of both nutritive yield and forage quality.

Hay-making is one of the most common way for forage preservation in livestock industry. The quality and production of hay could be affected by various factors. This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of tedding time and frequency on drying rate and feed value of forage rye (Secale cereale L.) hay. Rye was harvested on heading stage using mower conditioner. Hay was tedded at each set hour(09:00, 13:00 and 17:00) and sampled at each set hour to determine dry matter (DM) content. After two months’ preservation, CP (crude protein), ADF (acid detergent fiber), NDF (neutral detergent fiber), IVDMD (in vitro dry matter digestibility), TDN (total digestible nutrient), RFV (relative feed value), DM loss, visual scores and total fungi count were determined for estimation of hay quality. Tedding was necessary for both speeding up drying rate and improving forage quality. Tedding at 17:00 showed lower NDF content (p<0.05), and also higher RFV value was found compared with tedding at 9:00 and 13:00 (p<0.05). On the other hand, it was observed that more DM losses would be found when tedding later (p<0.05). Tedding in 1~3 times per day were lower in ADF and NDF content (p<0.05), increased CP, TDN and RFV (p<0.05), got less DM loss (p<0.05), and contained less fungi during conservation compared with no tedding (p<0.05). On the other hand, tedding too frequent caused more DM loss (p<0.05). In conclusion, for shorter drying process and higher quality of forage rye hay, tedding at 13:00∼17:00 for 1∼2 times per day was recommended in this study.