To investigate relationships between foraging height of cattle and vertical distribution of leaf mass in native grasses, mass of foliage, density of leaves (as frequency of occurrence) and proportion of bites by beef steers in individual layers (every 20cm height from the ground) of canopies were measured for Miscanthus sinensis, Sasa palmata, Pleioblastus chino and Calamagrostis arundinacea in June-July (summer) and September (autumn). Vertical distribution of foliage mass and leaf density well described the characteristics of aboveground structure in native grasses in each season. Leaf mass in an individual layer was significantly related to leaf density of the layer (P<0.05) in all grass species, showing the effectiveness of measuring the frequency of occurrence of leaves for estimating leaf mass in native grasses. In both seasons, correlation analysis showed that steers took more bites from layers with higher leaf densities. However, the significant relationship between the proportion of bites and leaf density was relatively low in the early period in autumn. It was suggested that, in autumn, other factors such as quality of foliage affected the foraging height of grazing cattle.

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Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to predict chemical composition of unground (cut to 5cm length) forage paddy rice samples (n=120). Eighty samples were selected for calibration development, and the remaining samples were used for equation validation. Calibration equation for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), organic cellular contents (OCC), organic cell wall (OCW) and low digestible fiber (Ob) showed a tendency for increasing correlation coefficients (r) between estimated and measured values and decreasing standard error (SE) of estimation as the number of spectra (repetitions) used for equation development increased, with the most accurate calibration equations being produced by averaging 4 or 5 repetition spectra. The validation test showed relatively high values of r and low values of standard deviation of prediction (SDP) when equations developed from 2-5 spectra were used for DM and those from 4-5 spectra were used for CP, OCC, OCW and Ob. The results show that DM, CP, OCC, OCW and Ob contents in unground forage paddy rice can be predicted by using a NIRS technique with an acceptable accuracy, when sufficient number (4-5) of repetitive spectra is incorporated into the equation development.

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Round bale silages were made from densely planted forage sorghum using 4 different methods. In the first method (no wilting), forage was cut by a flail-type harvester and immediately ensiled without wilting. In the second method (natural wilting), forage was cut by a flail-type harvester and ensiled after 24-hour wilting without tedding. In the third method (promoted wilting), forage was cut by a flail-type harvester and ensiled after 24-hour wilting accompanied by 2 teddings. In the fourth method (conventional method), forage was cut by a disk mower and ensiled by a cutting round baler after 24-hour wilting with 2 teddings. The moisture content of the silage material was lowest in the promoted wilting, followed by the natural wilting and the conventional method. The bale density was similar among the 4 methods. Silages made by the 3 methods using a flail-type harvester showed lower pH values and higher lactic acid contents than that made by the conventional method. The results show that silages with good quality and enhanced lactic acid fermentation can be made from densely planted forage sorghum by using a flail-type harvester.

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Equations for predicting total digestible nutrients (TDN) of forage rice (Oryza sativa L.) silage were developed, using data from 17 samples (7 cultivars and 1 line in different growth stages and years). The cultivars and the line used were "Hoshiaoba", "Kusanohoshi", "Supurice", "Nishiaoba", "Saikai-shi 253", "Hinohikari", "Karinomai" and "Kusutamamochi". TDN concentration ranged from 40.6 to 55.1%, and was linearly related to in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) (r=0.851, P<0.001) and crude ash concentration (CA) (r=-0.782, P<0.001), when a data set from a lodged sample was excluded. A multiple regression equation incorporating the 2 variables showed a high predictive ability : TDN(%DM)=0.329×IVDMD(%)-0.688×CA(%DM)+44.5(R^2=0.815, P<0.001). TDN concentration increased as dry weight percentage of panicle in the sample (PP) increased, showing a relationship of TDN (%DM)=0.324×PP(%DM)+39.3(R^2=0.673, P<0.001), when immature or lodged samples were excluded. The results show that TDN concentration of forage rice silage can be approximately predicted from PP as a farm practice, and more accurately from IVDMD and CA as a laboratory technique, without a digestion trial using animals.

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Pleurotus ostreatus TMI30026 (oyster mushroom) was evaluated for its potential to improve the in vitro degradability of wheat straw. P. ostreatus TMI30026 was incubated on wheat straw and wheat straw with rice bran (10, 30, 50% on a dry matter basis) substrates for 15-90 days at 25℃ and 75% relative humidity. Detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin and dry matter degradability by cellulase were determined. The dry matter, acid detergent lignin and hemicellulose in wheat straw substrate decreased through incubation with P. ostreatus TMI30026. The dry matter degradability by cellulase of wheat straw substrate was improved by 30% and degradable dry matter by cellulase increased by 70% at the end of 60 days through incubation with P. ostreatus TMI30026. The digestibility of the substrate was not improved with the rice bran addition.

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Cutting and burning are common practices used to maintain Miscanthus-type grassland vegetation. However, 16year monitoring of grassland vegetation revealed that the two practices led to different botanical compositions, i.e. Miscanthus sinensis in cutting plot and Arundinella hirta in burning plot as a dominant species. The growing points of M. sinensis in the soil were distributed shallower than those of A. hirta at the time of the burning treatment, suggesting that the burning damage was severer in M. sinensis than in A. hirta. The difference in the depth of the growing points of the two species is considered to be one of the factors responsible for the differences in the vegetational changes between the cutting and burning treatments.

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The fermentation quality and palatability of fermented TMR mixed with green tea waste (GTW) were evaluated by using four dry cows. The GTW was added to basal TMR at 0, 5, 10 or 15% on a dry matter basis, and fermented for 180 days. The addition of GTW had no adverse influences on the fermentation quality of TMR. The time spent for in-take by dry cows tended to decrease as the mixed proportion of GTW increased, showing preference index of 47.0, 49.7, 51.2 and 37.3 for 5, 10, 15 and 20% mixture of GTW, respectively. The results show that mixing GTW up to 15% as a material of fermented TMR has no influence on feed palatability.

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We investigated method to efficiently extract phenolic acid and volatile fatty acid as plant growth inhibitors in order to adjust pH and remove the salts from the compost for use in Komatsuna germination test. The recovery rate of the inhibitor was compared in various conditions as a kind of organic solvent, extraction period and temperature. Preferable condition and procedure was summarized as follows. 1. Hot water extract was prepared from dried and ground compost suspended in distilled water at 60℃ for 60 minutes. 2. The same volume of compost extract and organic solvent composed of equal volumes of diethyl ether and acetic ethyl was mixed and shaken for 10 minutes. 3. After a few minutes, the supernatant layer was isolated. 4. A small volume of 0.1N-NaOH was added to the supernatant liquid and dried in water bath at 60℃. 5. Dried supernatant was dissolved in a fixed volume of hot water containing a small amount of phosphate buffer solution.

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