Table 2. Effects of seeding dates on the chemical composition of whole-crop barley cultivated in a paddy field (% of dry matter basis unless otherwise stated)

Items	Treatments¹⁾
Items	T1	T2	T3	T4	T5
Crude protein	12.2 ± 0.2^c	12.7 ± 0.1^c	13.5 ± 0.1^b	13.8 ± 0.2^b	15.4 ± 0.6^a
Ether extract	1.8 ± 0.1^b	1.9 ± 0.1^b	1.9 ± 0.0^b	2.1 ± 0.0^a	2.1 ± 0.1^a
Crude ash	9.7 ± 0.1^a	9.1 ± 0.1^b	8.9 ± 0.1^bc	9.0 ± 0.1^bc	8.8 ± 0.1^c
Crude fiber	28.5 ± 0.4^b	30.9 ± 0.2^a	31.1 ± 0.7^a	30.5 ± 0.3^a	30.9 ± 1.3^a
NDF	58.6 ± 0.3^b	59.9 ± 0.2^a	61.8 ± 0.5^a	60.5 ± 0.7^a	60.2 ± 0.7^a
ADF	36.9 ± 1.2^ns	37.5 ± 0.8	37.2 ± 2.6	37.3 ± 1.5	37.7 ± 0.9
TDN	60.0 ± 1.0ns	59.5 ± 0.3	59.3 ± 2.1	59.4 ± 1.2	59.0 ± 0.7

Data are expressed as means ± SD.
Means in a row with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05).
T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 represent the different seeding dates: October 19, October 26, November 2, November 9, and November 16, respectively. NDF, neutral detergent fiber; ADF, acid detergent fiber; TDN, total digestible nutrients [88.9 – (0.79 × acid detergent fiber (%))]; ns, not significant.