BLOAT INVESTIGATIONS: II. A COMPARISON OF THE TRUE PROTEIN AND ELEMENT CONTENTS OF ALFALFA HAY FROM BLOATING AND NON-BLOATING FARMS

Abstract

Alfalfa samples at the hay stage of development were harvested by hand from 35 farms where bloat was a serious problem and from 38 farms where bloat did not occur even on lush legume pastures. The samples were analysed for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, calcium, magnesium, and true protein. There were no differences in the mean contents of these constituents between bloating and non-bloating farms. There were wide ranges within both types of farm; true protein for example varied from 7.3 to 14.6% in alfalfa from bloating farms, with a similar range from 7.7 to 16.9% from non-bloating farms. Correlation coefficients revealed a significant association between nitrogen and phosphorus (.488) in alfalfa from non-bloating farms. There were significant associations between sulphur and nitrogen (.366) and between sulphur and protein (.707) in alfalfa from bloating farms. This correlation between sulphur and protein was the only coefficient that was significantly different from the corresponding correlation coefficient for non-bloating farms.