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Title: EVALUATION OF FORAGE SOYBEANS (GLYCINE MAX (L.) MERR.) IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Author
item KOIVISTO, JASON - ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLL.
item LANE, GERRY - ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLL.
item Devine, Thomas

Submitted to: Grasslands Federation European Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/27/2002
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) were first introduced to North America and Europe as a forage crop (Caldwell, 1973). In 1924, 1 million acres of soybeans were planted for hay in the United States. Subsequently this acreage declined as a result of the crop being difficult to dry and the increasing value of soybean as a grain crop. Recently, the Agricultural Research Service, ARS, has developed several improved forage soybean cultivars, Derry (Devine et al, 1998) and Donegal (Devine and Hatley, 1998). Derry, Donegal and six experimental lines (provided by the ARS) are being tested at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. All entries were sown in 15-cm rows to obtain a population of 70 plants m-2. Individual plots are six rows wide by 3-m long, in a three replicate RCB design. The crop will be harvested in mid-September, early-October, and late-October, 2001. Samples will be obtained from harvesting a 0.5-m section of the center two rows of the plots, for yield determinations. Samples will be separated into stems, leaf-petiole and pod; weighed, oven dried at 50oC, ground (1-mm) and subsequently analyzed for dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), and crude protein (CP).