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When a roughage “heats,” is there a loss of protein?

Last Updated: March 06, 2008

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Failure to adequately exclude air during the ensiling process, or baling hay that is too wet, will cause heat-damaged forage—created by fixation of the protein to fiber when temperatures exceed 140°F. This heat-damaged protein is not digested by animals. Unfortunately, a standard crude protein analysis will not show the degree of heat-damaged protein present. However, forages can be analyzed for acid detergent insoluble nitrogen (ADIN) to evaluate the amount of unavailable, heat-damaged protein.

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