Three Latin square trials, with 20 (two trials) or 24 (one trial) multiparous lactating Holstein cows (four in each trial with ruminal cannulae), compared the feeding value of red clover and alfalfa silages harvested over 3 yr. Overall, the forages contained similar amounts of neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber; however, red clover silage contained more hemicellulose, less ash and...

The enormous variety of substances which may be added to forage in order to manipulate and improve the ensilage process presents an empirical, combinatorial optimization problem of great complexity. To investigate the utility of genetic algorithms for designing effective silage additive combinations, a series of small-scale proof of principle silage experiments were performed with fresh ryegras...

The objective of this study was to determine if the length of chop of processed corn silage influences the impact of supplemental fat on rumen fermentation and performance of dairy cows. We hypothesized that increasing forage particle length may alleviate the interference of fat on rumen fermentation. Sixteen Holstein cows averaging 120 d in milk were used in a replicated 4 x 4 Latin square des...

this experiment was conducted to assess the effects of daytime cutting management (p.m. vs. a.m. cut), ensiling duration and adding microbial inoculants on chemical composition of alfalfa silage. for this, second growth alfalfa harvested at the early bud stage of development after a sunny day at sundown (about 1900 h; pm alfalfa), whereas the second half was cut next day at sunup (about 0800 h;...

Despite some production issues associated with preservation of forages as roundbale silage, potential benefits with respect to minimizing DM loss and preserving forage quality compared with traditional hay preservation systems are well documented. Less information is available regarding the feeding value of forages preserved in this manner. This paper attempts to address issues associated with ...

Page Page Acknowledgments ....................................................................................... 2 Optimal Replacement of Forage and Concentrate with a New Wet Corn Milling Product for Lactating Dairy Cows ............... 3 Evaluation of Alternative Sources of Rumen Undegradable Protein with Wet Corn Milling Products for Dairy Cattle ................. 6 Effect of Wet Corn Glute...

Field dry hay needs to be reduced from near 80% moisture to 20% or less to prevent spoilage during storage. Drying hay to safe baling moistures often takes several days. Sources of loss during forage harvest include mechanical losses such as mowing, conditioning, chopping, raking, packaging and handling as well as respiration and leaching. The general relationship between forage moisture concen...

ince the mechanical picker-sheller has come into widespread use for harvesting field corn, farmers generally are confronted with the problem of safe storage of highmoisture shelled corn. The moisture content of field-shelled corn is often too high for direct binning, and storing such grain in regular farm bins without first lowering the moisture level is almost certain to result in spoilage. Mo...

A novel method of harvesting whole-plant corn silage, shredlage, may increase kernel processing and physically effective fiber. Improved fiber effectiveness may be especially advantageous when feeding brown midrib (BMR) corn hybrids, which have reduced lignin content. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of feeding TMR containing BMR corn shredlage (SHRD) compared with BMR co...

The effect of the forage source on ruminal fermentation in vitro was investigated for fine (F) and coarse (C) milled diets, using a modified Hohenheim gas production test and a semi-continuous rumen simulation technique (Rusitec). It was hypothesised that the replacement of maize silage by grass silage might lead to associative effects and that interactions related to particle size variation co...