From lkpaine@facstaff.wisc.eduSat Apr 12 21:45:13 1997 Date: Fri, 11 Apr 1997 07:43:28 -0500 From: "Laura K. Paine" To: lkrall@me.nrcs.usda.gov, sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Silphium Perfoliatum At 03:42 PM 4/10/97 -0400, you wrote: >I work with a dairy farmer who has heard that Cup Plant (silphium >perfoliatum) compares in feed value to alfalfa. It is a perennial, does >quite well here in my garden, and this farmer is interested in trying it >out. Does anyone know about using this as dairy feed and does anyone >have any ideas for a bulk seed source? Thanks. Lisa Krall > Hello, Lisa and everyone-- Here at the University of Wisconsin Agronomy Department, we've had an ongoing research project involving cupplant as a forage crop. The PI on the project is Dr. Ken Albrecht (608/262-2314). It has been looked at mainly as a silage crop and has been found to have very high nutritional quality--remarkably, the fiber levels in these plants is very low. They have done work looking at various cutting schedules and other managment questions. Ken is also looking at a number of different strains of cupplant, using seed collected from different sites across the midwest. I'm not sure if he has published anything on this project in the scientific literature, but I know he'd have some summary materials on his research that he could share with you. Hope this helps! Laura Laura Paine Department of Agronomy University of Wisconsin 1575 Linden Drive Madison, WI 53706 Phone: 608/262-6203 Fax: 608/265-3437 email: lkpaine@facstaff.wisc.edu