Designing agricultural grasses to help mitigate proteolysis during ensiling to optimize protein feed provisions for livestock

The efficient preservation of protein in silage for livestock feed is dependent on the rate and extent of proteolysis. Previous research on fresh forage indicated enhanced protein stability in certain Festulolium (ryegrass × fescue hybrids) cultivars compared to ryegrass. This is the first report of an experiment to test the hypothesis that a Lolium perenne × Festuca arundinacea var glaucescens cultivar had reduced proteolysis compared to perennial ryegrass (L. perenne) during the ensiling process. Forages were harvested in May (Cut 2) and August (Cut 4), wilted for 24 h and ensiled in laboratory‐scale silos. Silage was destructively sampled at 0 h, 9 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 14 days and 90 days post‐ensiling, and dry matter (DM), pH and chemical composition were determined. At Cut 2, there was no difference in crude protein between treatments but ryegrass had higher soluble nitrogen (SN) (P