1- دلاور، م. ح.، ع، طهماسبی.، ر، ولی زاده. 1391. تأثیر زمان برداشت، طول مدت سیلوکردن و کاربرد افزودنیهای میکروبی بر مؤلفه های شیمیایی سیلاژ یونجه. پژوهشهای علوم دامی ایران. جلد 4، شماره 2، ص. 144- 137.
2- یاری، م. 1391. اثر مرحله رشد، زمان چیدن و فصل برداشت بر الگو و قابلیت دسترسی مواد مغذی و ساختار مولکولی یونجه و تأثیر آن بر عملکرد گاوهای شیرده هلشتاین. رساله دکتری تغذیه دام، دانشکده کشاورزی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد.
3- AOAC. 2000. Official methods of analysis.17th ed. Association of official analytical chemists. Washington, DC.
4- Berthiaume, R., C. Benchaar., A. V. Chaves., G. F. Tremblay., Y. Castonguay., A. Bertrand., G. Belanger., R. Michaud., C. Lafrenière., and A. F. Brito. 2007. Increasing non structural carbohydrates in alfalfa improves in vitro microbial N synthesis. J. Dairy Sci. 90(Suppl. 1):430. (Abstr).
5- Brito, A. F., G. F. Tremblay., A. Bertrand., Y. Castonguay., G. Belanger., R. Michaud., H. Lapierre., C. Benchaar., H. V. Petit., D. Ouellet., and R. Berthiaume. 2008. Alfalfa cut at sundown improves milk yield of late-lactation dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 91:3968–3982.
6- Brito, A. F., G. F. Tremblay., H. Lapierre, A. Bertrand., Y. Castonguay., G. Belanger., R. Michaud., C. Benchaar., D. R. Ouellet., and R. Berthiaume. 2009. Alfalfa cut at sundown increases bacterial protein synthesis in late-lactation dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 92:1092–1107.
7- Burns, J. C., D. S. Fisher., and H. F. Mayland. 2007. Diurnal shifts in nutritive value of alfalfa harvested as hay and evaluated by animal intake and digestion. Crop Sci. 47:2190–2197.
8- Burns, J. C., H. F. Mayland., and D. S. Fisher. 2005. Dry matter intake and digestion of alfalfa harvested at sunset and sunrise. J. Anim. Sci. 83:262–270.
9- Coblentz, W. K., G. E. Brink., N. P. Martin., and D. J. Undersander. 2008. Harvest timing effects on estimates of rumen degradable protein from alfalfa forages. Crop Sci. 48:778–788.
10- Cone, J. W., and A. H.Van Gelder. 2000. Influence of protein fermentation on gas production. In: Gas Production: Fermentation Kinetics for Feed Evaluation and to Assess Microbial Activity. An EAAP Satellite Symposium, British Society of Animal Science and Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 23–24.
11- Elizalde, J. C., N. R. Merchen., and D. B. Faulkner. 1999. Fractionation of fiber and crude protein in fresh forages during the spring growth. J. Anim. Sci. 77:476–484.
12- Hanson, A. A., D. K. Barnes., and R. R. Hill. 1988. Alfalfa and alfalfa improvement. Agronomy no. 29. The American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, USA.
13- Huntington, G. B., and J. C. Burns. 2007. Afternoon harvest increases readily fermentable carbohydrate concentration and voluntary intake of gamagrass and switchgrass baleage by beef steers. J. Anim. Sci. 85:276–284.
14- Kalu, B.A., and G.W. Fick. 1981. Quantifying morphological development of alfalfa for studies of herbage quality. Crop Sci. 21:267–271.
15- Kowsar, R., G. R. Ghorbani., M. Alikhani., M. Khorvash., and A. Nikkhah. 2008. Corn silage partially replacing short alfalfa hay to optimize forage use in total mixed rations for lactating cows. J. Dairy Sci. 91: 4755–4764.
16- Lamb, J. F. S., C. C. sheaffer., and A. Debroah. 2003. Population density and harvest maturity effects on leaf and stem yield in alfalfa. Agron. J. 95:635–641.
17- Lee, M. R. F., L. J. Harris., J. M. Moorby., M. O. Humphreys., M. K. Theodorou., J. C. MacRae., and N. D. Scollan. 2002. Rumen metabolism and nitrogen flow to the small intestine in steers offered Lolium perenne containing different levels of water-soluble carbohydrate. Anim. Sci. 74:587–596.
18- Makkar, H. P. S. 2005. In vitro gas methods for evaluation of feeds containing phytochemicals. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 123-124:291:302.
19- Menke, K.H., and H. Steingass. 1988. Estimation of the energetic feed value obtained from chemical analysis and gas production using rumen fluid. Anim. Res. Dev. 28:7–55.
20- Merry, R. J., M. R. F. Lee., D. R. Davies., R. J. Dewhurst., J. M. Moorby., N. D. Scollan., and M. K. Theodorou. 2006. Effects of high-sugar ryegrass silage and mixtures with red clover silage on ruminant digestion. 1. In vitro and in vivo studies of nitrogen utilization. J. Anim. Sci. 84:3049–3060.
21- Njidda, A. A., and I. Ikhimioya. 2010. In vitro gas production and dry matter digestibility of semi-arid browses of north eastern nigeria. Slovak J. Anim. Sci. 43:154-159.
22- Ørskov, E.R., and I. Mcdonald. 1979. The estimation of protein degradability in the rumen from incubation measurements weighted according to rate of passage. J. Agric. Sci. Cambridge 92: 499–503.
23- Owens, V. N., K. A. Albrecht., R. E. Muck., and S. H. Duke. 1999. Protein degradation and fermentation characteristics of red clover and alfalfa silage harvested with varying levels of total nonstructural carbohydrates. Crop Sci. 39:1873–1880.
24- SAS, 2003. User Guide: Statistics, Version 9.2. SAS institute, Inc., Cary, NC, USA.
25- Salem, A. Z. M. 2005. Impact of season of harvest on in vitro gas production and dry matter degradability of Acacia saligna leaves with inoculums from three ruminant species. Animal Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 123-124:67–79.
26- Van Soest, P. J. 1994. Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant. 2nd ed. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
27- Weir, W. C., L. G. Jones., and J. H. Meyer. 1960. Effect of cutting interval and stage of maturity on the digestibility and yield of alfalfa. J. Anim. Sci. 19: 5–19.
28- Wilson J. R., B. Deinum., and F. M. Engels. 1991. Temperature effects on anatomy and digestibility of leaf and stem tropical and temperate forage species. Neth. J. Agric. Sci. 39:31−48.
29- Yari, M., R. Valizadeh., A. A. Naserian., G. R. Ghorbani., P. Rezvani Moghaddam., A. Jonker., P. Yu. 2012. Botanical traits, protein and carbohydrate fractions, ruminal degradability and energy contents of alfalfa hay harvested at three stages of maturity and in the afternoon and morning. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 172:162–170.