We compared upland and bottomland
cereals seeded during 1991 at the KSU Agricultural
Research Center - Hays. The five crops
(three varieties of triticale, a winter wheat, and
a winter rye) were harvested as whole plants
during the latter part of the growing season.
Crude protein (CP), ac id detergent fiber (ADF),
and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were
estimated using near infrared spectroscopy.
Compute r models were developed to describe
nutrient changes. Crude protein content
decreased whereas the two fiber components
increased with maturity. Rye and wheat tended
to have lower CP values when day 125 was
used as the arbitrary harvest date. We observed
only slight differences i n nutritional components
between upland and bottomland plantings.