Paulownia Leaf Meal as Livestock Feed: What Studies Show

A plantation grows trees for their trunks — but every summer those trunks carry an annual crop that most projects simply drop on the ground. Paulownia leaves are large, abundant and, according to a growing body of feeding research, genuinely useful as livestock fodder. A new open-access review published in In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Plant on 27 October 2026 pulls the feeding studies together, and the numbers are worth a close look by anyone budgeting a young plantation.

Paulownia trees intercropped with forage crops

Leaf fodder is one of the three early revenue lines — alongside intercropping and honey — that can carry a paulownia project through the years before the first meaningful thinning. It is also the line that requires the most caution, because the trial data show clear limits.

What is in a paulownia leaf

Monthly sampling of Paulownia elongata foliage established the baseline used in most comparisons: 14–23% crude protein, 2–4% fat, 6–9% ash and 29–55% neutral detergent fiber, depending on season and leaf age. The protein figure is what draws feed buyers' attention — it lands squarely in alfalfa territory, and alfalfa is the reference forage every ration is built around.

The leaves also carry secondary compounds. Paulownia foliage is dense with glandular trichomes that secrete insect-repelling metabolites, and the genus is rich in antioxidant polyphenols, flavonoids and ursolic acid. In feed terms these are a double-edged presence: mild antimicrobial and antiprotozoal activity can be beneficial in the rumen, but the same compounds at high inclusion rates are one likely reason the trials find a ceiling.

Head-to-head with alfalfa

Compared directly with alfalfa meal, Paulownia tomentosa leaf powder holds its own on crude protein while running lower in fiber and ash and higher in ether extract. Two mineral details stand out: methionine — the sulfur amino acid ruminant rations most often lack — runs roughly three times higher than in alfalfa, and zinc runs about eight times higher.

The calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of 2.29 sits at the upper edge of the 1.2:1–2:1 range recommended for ruminant diets, though far below alfalfa's 5.78. In practice that means paulownia leaf meal fits comfortably into mixed rations but should not simply replace the entire forage fraction and be forgotten.

What the feeding trials found

The review highlights two trials that define the practical envelope.

Rabbits. New Zealand White rabbits were fed diets in which paulownia leaf meal replaced alfalfa hay at 0%, 15% or 30% for eight weeks. At 15% inclusion, feed conversion was the best of the three groups; at 30%, weight gain declined. The lesson: moderate inclusion helps, heavy inclusion hurts.
Dairy cattle. When paulownia leaf silage replaced alfalfa silage, rumen pH, ammonia and total volatile fatty acids rose and methane production fell linearly. In a parallel lactation trial, exhaled methane dropped by roughly 14% with no loss of milk yield, energy-corrected milk or milk fat — but milk protein and lactose yields declined and milk urea rose. The methane benefit is real, and it is not free.

For a livestock operation, a feed ingredient that trims enteric methane by double digits without touching overall milk volume is commercially interesting, particularly where emissions accounting is starting to matter. But the milk-protein trade-off means the inclusion rate has to be tuned, not maxed out.

Practical notes for plantation owners

Harvest what management already removes. Prunings and pre-thinning clearings produce leaf biomass; letting it lie is a missed credit line, not a neutral act.
Start with the tested species and rates. The published numbers come from P. elongata and P. tomentosa foliage at 15%-scale inclusion. Different clones and harvest months will shift composition.
Get your own analysis. Crude protein spanning 14–23% is a wide band; a forage lab report on your actual leaf material is cheap insurance before committing a ration.
Treat it as a component, not a base. The strongest results sit in the 10–15% band of the total ration, blended with conventional forage.

Leaf fodder will not make or break a plantation's economics on its own. But stacked with intercropping in the early years, honey from the nectar-rich flowers, and biomass or biochar in mid-rotation, it is one more reason paulownia projects can be designed to pay their running costs long before the first timber cheque arrives.

Sources & Further reading

Want a plantation layout that budgets leaf fodder, honey and intercropping alongside timber? Email paulownia@vip.126.com — tell us your site, climate and livestock setup, and we will help you design a rotation with early income built in.

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