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.

This experiment was conducted to a comparison of the productivity according to variety and forage quality by plant parts of imported silage corn (Zea mays, L) in Pyeongchang. The corns evaluated in this experiment were 8 varieties (P1184, P1151, P1194, P1543, P1345, P1429, P1443, and P2105) introduced from the United States, Pioneer Hybrid Co. The harvested corn was divided into 5 plant parts (leaf, stem, cob, husk, and grain), and the ratio of each part was calculated using dry weight and the feed value was analyzed. The emergence rate of corn was generally good except for the P1151 and P2105 varieties. The average tasseling date was July 24th and the silking date was July 27th, but the P2105 variety was late to July 28th and August 1st, and the remaining varieties were similar. P1345 was the highest (289 and 123 cm), and P1151 varieties were the lowest (267 and 101 cm) in the plant and ear height. Disease resistance was low in P1184, P1443 and P1429, and P1197 and P1345 were high. In the case of stover, the dry matter (DM) content was the lowest at 19.6% in the P1151 and the highest at 24.9% in the P1429. DM content of ear was the highest in the P2105 (55.5%), and P1184 (54.2%) and P1345 (54.3%) were also significantly higher (p<0.05). The DM yield of stover of P2105, P1429 and P1194 varieties was significantly higher (p<0.05), and ear yield of P2105, P1345 and P1443 was higher. The proportions of each part of plants (leaf, stem, cob, husk, and grain) divided by 5 was high, with 50-60% of the ear(grain+cob) ratio. The ratio of husk and cob was roughly similar, and the leaf and stem part showed a ratio of about 20%. The crude protein (CP) content was highest in leaf, followed by grain. The CP content of the stem was the lowest, and the husk was not significantly different among the varieties (p>0.05). The acid detergent fiber (ADF) content was similar to the rest parts except grain, but the leaf part tended to be lower, and other parts except the stem and leaf showed no significant difference between varieties (p>0.05). There was no significant difference in NDF (neutral detergent fiber) content in husk, but there was a difference between varieties in other parts (p<0.05). In addition, there was a special difference by plant parts for each variety, P2015 on the stem, P1197 on the leaf, P1151 on the cob, P1197 on the husk, and P1197 on the grains with high NDF content. IVDMD (in vitro dry matter digestibility) was not significantly different between stems and grains, but there was a difference between varieties in cobs and husks. According to the results, DM yield of P2105 variety was the best in the experiment, and the ratio of grain was excellent in P1543 and P1345. In addition, it was found that the feed value was higher in the leaves and grains, and the leaf and stem had higher feed values than husk or cob.

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.