An Overview of the Alfalfa Industry in Argentina
At present, Argentina grows nearly 3.7 million ha of alfalfa, 60％ of which are planted as pure stands and 40％ in mixtures with temperate grasses.Pure stands are primarily used for dairy and hay production, while mixtures are mostly utilized for beef production.Nearly 800,000 ha were cut for alfalfa hay and another 150,000 ha were cut for alfalfa silage in 2014/15.The vast majority of this hay, either as small bales (22 kg), round bales (350 to 450 kg) or prismatic big bales (400 kg), is used within the farm or is sold in the domestic market.Hay quality is based on subjective (color, presence of leaves, smell, etc.) rather than on objectives criteria, i.e.crude protein (CP), relative feed value (RFV), fiber (ADF and NDF), in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD), moisture, etc.Therefore, the overall hay quality in the internal market is low to medium, with average values of 85％ DM, 16％ CP (range: 13-24％), 56％ NDF and 58％ IVDMD (range: 56-60％).In addition, buyers usually pay by weight rather than by quality classes.This has resulted in sub-standard practices in hay making (i.e., improper cutting machinery, delayed cutting, inadequate bale storage, etc.) being quite common.
production areas quality exports pellets and companies
Daniel Basigalup
EEA INTA Manfredi, Córdoba, Argentina
国内会议
安徽蚌埠
英文
8-13
2015-10-25（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）