Nutritional value of herbage terraces and its application in pasture
Terraces (Timothy Hay), also known as Timothy grass, also known as cat's tail (named for its long spike like cat's tail), is a perennial sparse herb of grass family cat's tail, which is suitable for growing in cold, cool and humid environments. The terraced grassland is produced in the Eurasian temperate zone and later spread to the United States and Canada. Now it is cultivated in all countries. China began to introduce experimental planting in the northeast in the 1930s, started to cultivate in Gansu in the 1940s, and popularized planting in many places in Gansu from the 1980s to the 1990s. At present, with the expansion of demand for high-quality forage grass and the introduction of fine varieties, small-scale planting has been carried out in northeast, north, northwest and other regions of China. Terraces are planted commercially on a large scale in the northwest of the United States and the southwest of Canada, which are also the main production and export regions of the world.
Characteristics of Terrace
Terrace grass is an excellent forage grass of gramineous family. It is tall, about 1~1.2m long, with abundant leaves, large leaves, tender, soft grass, and good palatability. It is the fodder for herbivores such as racehorses, cows, rabbits, etc. It can provide rich crude fiber and protein nutrition for ruminants. With low potassium content, it is more suitable for feeding perinatal cattle and dry cows.
Nutritional value analysis
The content of crude protein (CP) in herbage hay was moderate (6%~12%), the content of soluble carbohydrate (WSC) was high (9%~16%), and the content of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) was high. According to relevant research in Japan, the digestibility of organic matter in dry matter of herbage is 58.5%, the content of digestible energy is 9.77MJ/KG, and the content of metabolic energy is 8.19MJ/Kg, which belongs to high-quality coarse fiber herbage.
Current Situation of Terrace Introduced in China
Since 2016, China's pastures have imported terraced pasture, mainly horse racing and supplemented by cows. By 2017, dairy farms will gradually increase, and the import volume of terraced pasture will exceed 3000 tons, with a price of about 300~380 dollars (the price for horse racing will be 450~600 dollars). By 2018, due to the low price of alfalfa and oat grass, the amount of imported terraced grass will be restrained. By 2019, due to the sharp rise in the prices of alfalfa and oat grass, the import volume of terraced pasture will rise significantly, breaking through 5300 tons, with a year-on-year growth of more than 300%. By 2020, the prices of alfalfa and oat grass will fall, and the import volume of imported herbage will decline. From these statistical analysis, we found that the price correlation between imported herbage and alfalfa, oats is obvious.
In the past three years, more than 20 traders in China have imported herbage from many exporters in Canada and the United States, all of which are small batches of trial imports. Moreover, the standards of each company are different, the quotations are different, and the publicity and introduction are also different. As a result, the quality of each batch is unstable and the price fluctuates greatly, which makes it impossible to form a stable supply for the ranch. Some ranches either find that the quality of the arrival is not as good as advertised after purchasing, or they give up the use because the price is too high. Because there is no corresponding grade standard, it is also difficult for nutritionists to formulate formulas. The application in horse racing is relatively stable and the price is relatively high, but the usage is very small.
Comparative Analysis of Terrace and Oat Grass
Terrace and oat grass belong to gramineous forage. Terrace protein is slightly higher than oat grass, sugar is lower than oat grass, effective crude fiber is similar, the function of improving rumen rumination is the same, total digestibility is similar, both belong to low potassium, low nitrate, rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals, high-quality roughage. There are alternatives in calves, perinatal cows and dry cows.
Problems of Terrace in Domestic Market
At present, there is no corresponding mature grading standard for terraced grass in Canada and the United States, and most grasslands and processing plants are still graded according to experience, and each company follows its own standard. The price difference between different levels is very large. Between the first crop and the second crop, the price difference between the horse racing class and the cow class is 50-80%, and the quotation is even twice as high. As a result, our importers either chose the unsuitable level of terraced grass, which is very expensive and unacceptable to the pasture, or imported low-end terraced grass (only suitable for feeding beef cattle), The quality cannot meet the requirements of the ranch. The import volume of terraced pasture is very small, which can not form a continuous and stable supply, and the pasture dare not adjust the formula, which have caused huge obstacles to the import of terraced pasture.
According to statistics, in dairy developed countries, the proportion of alfalfa, oat grass and terraces is 4:3:3. Terraces have also been widely used in Japanese and Korean pastures. In South Korea, the proportion of alfalfa and terraced pasture imports is about 5:3, while in Japan, the proportion of alfalfa and terraced pasture imports is about 4:3. Compared with alfalfa, the import volume of terraced pasture in China can be basically ignored, and the potential market space is very large.