Abstract:
The Australian hay industry is growing, with large quantities of oaten hay now exported to Japan, and all types of legume, pasture and cereal hay sold on the domestic market to the dairy, horse, grazing and feedlot industries. Objective measurement of hay quality is being increasingly used as a marketing tool with energy, protein and fibre content being important indicators of nutritive value. A measure of animal preference would assist all users in ration formulation and is being particularly sort for the export market. The factors that influence preference are poorly defined and have not been compared across animal species. The aim of this experiment was to undertake preference tests using a range of cereal and legume hays fed to sheep, horses, beef and dairy cattle.
