Precise control of water stress in the field reveals different response thresholds for forage yield and digestibility of maize hybrids

Abstract

By combining forage yield and dry matter digestibility, we were able to quantify digestible yield and identify varieties with different strategies for coping with water stress, raising the exciting possibility that important potential selection targets still exist. Finally, from a farmer's perspective, we were able to show that late silage harvest has no effect on dry matter digestibility and that moderate water stress does not necessarily result in a loss of digestible yield.