green feed

[walter]

I've been trying to find out when is the best time to cut barley for green feed. Does anyone know, or can tell me where to look? Thanks

[jmillang]

That all depends on what you are trying to accomplish, maximum protein quality, maximum energy content, or maximum dry matter or a blend. The conventional wisdom is to cut greenfeed at the soft to hard dough stage of kernal formation. This often gives us good dry matter prodcution and high energy content. As the plant matures we see an increase in energy content but we see a decrease in protein.