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Straw Quality of 10 Wheat Cultivars under Conventional and No-Till Systems

USDA-ARS, Grazinglands Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 1199, El Reno, OK. 73036

^* Corresponding author. (Email: la031celreno{at}attmail.com).

Straw. of small-grain cereal is an important source of feed for maintenance of ruminant livestock. Information on the nutritional quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) straw under conservation tillage system is limited. Grain and straw (leaves and stem) samples were obtained from a previous tillage by cultivar field study conducted on a Bethany silt loam (fine, mixed, thermic Pachic Paleustoll) from 1984 to 1987 near El Reno, OK, to determine the straw quality of 10 hard red winter wheat cultivars grown under conventional (moldboard plow) and no-till systems. Straw was analyzed for neutral-detergent fiber (NDF), aciddetergent fiber (ADF), lignin (LIG), crude protein (CP), and in dry matter digestibility (IVDMD). Fiber (ADF and NDF) and LIG concentrations of straw from the early-maturity cultivars were higher (P 0.05) than medium and late maturity cultivars. Crude protein (5 to 12 g kg^–1) and IVDMD(2 5 to 39 g kg^–1) concentrations were lower in early-maturing than in medium- and late-maturing cultivars among years. Neutral-detergent fiber and ADF concentrations of all cultivars were not affected by tillage system; however, LIG of early-maturing cultivars (Chisholm and Vona) grown under a no-till system was 9 to 24 g kg^–1 lower in 1985 and 1986 than in conventionally tilled plots. In vitro dry matter digestibility of all cultivars was not consistently affected by tillage system: no significant difference in 1984, while straw IVDMD from no-till plots of all cultivars averaged 9 g kg^–1 lower in 1985 and 13 g kg^–1 lower in 1986, compared with conventionally tilled plots. Straw quality of the 10 wheat cultivars varied among maturity groups, but the effect of tillage system on straw quality was minimal.

Received for publication August 12, 1993.