03112naa a2200325 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902200140006002400280007410000170010224501600011926000090027950005190028852015860080765300190239365300240241265300290243665300100246565300100247565300170248565300240250265300240252665300190255070000200256970000160258970000120260570000150261770000190263277301350265110626412022-12-02       2021    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d  a0022-51427 a10.1002/jsfa.116192DOI1 aSTIRLING, S.  aGrowth stage and ensilingbimpact on chemical composition, conservation quality and in situ ruminal degradability of whole-crop oat.h[electronic resource]  c2021  aArticle history: Received 5 March 2021; Revised 2 October 2021; Accepted article published 29 October 2021. -- Corresponding author:   Cajarville, C.; Departamento de Producción Animal y Salud de Sistemas Productivos (IPAV), Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, San José, Uruguay; email:ccajarville@fvet.edu.uy  -- Funding: This study was supported by Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII) scholarship [POS_NAC_2013_1_11406] and research project funding [FMV_3_2013_1_100661].  aAbstract: BACKGROUND: The effects of growth stage (GS) and ensiling were assessed on whole-crop oat's (Avena sativa L. cv. Cantara) chemical composition, silage fermentation quality and in situ ruminal degradability. Oat was harvested and ensiled at six GS: boot, heading, water ripe, early milk, early dough and grain ripe (144, 151, 178, 234, 362 and 512 g kg-1 of dry matter (DM) of whole-crop forage, respectively). RESULTS: GS influenced chemical composition, silage fermentation quality and ruminal degradability of whole-crop oat. Lower DM and higher water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) contents lead to adequate forage compaction and fermentation at early GS; however, effluent was produced until the dough stage (L and Q; P ? 0.003). Advancing in maturity increased (P < 0.001) crop yield (4.5 to 9.4 t DM ha-1), DM (144 to 512 g kg-1), neutral detergent fibre (NDF; 537 to 571 g kg-1 DM), lignin (44.6 to 71.3 g kg-1 DM) and starch contents (26.4 to 201 g kg-1 DM), and reduced (P < 0.001) crude protein (107 to 60 g kg-1 DM) and WSC (115 to 17.5 g kg-1 DM). DM and NDF ruminal degradability declined with maturity for fresh and ensiled forages (L and Q; P < 0.05). Density and buffering capacity decreased with GS (L and Q; P < 0.001), whereas pH and soluble protein increased (L and Q; P ? 0.004). CONCLUSION: The growth stage of oat influenced the nutritive value and ruminal degradation to a greater extent than ensiling, and thus it can play a paramount role in whole-crop oat silage quality. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.  aAVENA INTEGRAL  aDEGRADACION RUMINAL  aFERMANTACION DE ENSILAJE  aFIBRA  aFibre  aGrowth stage  aRuminal degradation  aSilage fermentation  aWhole-crop oat1 aDIAZ-LAGO, J.E.1 aREPETTO, J.1 aPLA, M.1 aARROYO, J.1 aCAJARVILLE, C.  tJournal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 2021, Volume102, Issue 7, pages 2783-2791. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.11619