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Proportionate Allocation of Pasture Subsamples for Laboratory Quality Analysis
Author(s) -
Hill N. S.,
Fales S. L.,
Hoveland C. S.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1988.00021962008000040030x
Subject(s) - lotus corniculatus , trefoil , pasture , mathematics , dry matter , statistics , zoology , agronomy , biology
Chemical analysis of pasture subsamples is an expensive and time consuming process. The objective of this project was to develop a method by which the number of pasture subsamples can be reduced for routing chemical analysis. Pasture sumsamples of pure alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) or birdsfoot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus L.) were combined into proportionately allocated samples (PA). Laboratory analysis of in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) and crude protein (CP) were conducted on the subsamples and PA. Numerical averages (NA) and weighted means (WM) were calculated for IVDMD and CP of the subsamples. One subsample was randomly selected (RS) to estimate IVDMD and CP. The NA, PA, and RS were regressed with WM to determine the goodness of fit of the data for each method. Squared correaltion coefficients of the WM (dependent variable) and PA (independent variable) comparison were 0.99 and 0.93 for IVDMD and CP, respectively. The PA reduced sample number to one‐sixth of the original sample volume. The PA was an excellent method of reducing sample volume for IVDMD and CP analysis of pure samples of alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil.