This experiment aimed to quantify the methane emissions and intake, digestibility, performance, and carcass characteristics of finishing beef cattle offered maize (Zea mays) silages harvested at 1 of 4 sequential stages of maturity and to relate these values to those obtained from animals offered an ad libitum concentrate-based diet. Sixty continental crossbred steers with a mean initial BW of ...

Studies at the University of Reading (UK) compared silage quality, feed intake and digestibility of maize silage with maize±sun ̄ower (MS), maize±kale (MK) and maize±runner bean (MRB) silage, when sun ̄owers, kale and runner beans represented 26, 7 and 16% of total silage dry matter (DM). All intercrop silages had higher crude protein values (MS, 137 g kgÿ1, MRB, 120 g kgÿ1, MK, 105 g kgÿ1) than ...

The methane potential of nine varieties of fresh maize harvested at three different times and of maize silage was experimentally determined in batch assays. The ultimate methane productivity in terms of volatile solids (VS) was determined as 213.94-313.63, 195.88-334.81 mL/g VS from several fresh and silage maize in three stages, respectively. The average specific methane yield of wax ripeness ...

________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of inoculating Lactisil Maize, a dual-purpose inoculant, on the fermentation characteristics and nutritive value of high-moisture maize silage and the performance of lactating cows receiving the silage in their diets. Whole-crop maize was harvested...

Replacing grass silage with maize silage results in a fundamental change in the ratio of structural to non-structural carbohydrates with commensurate changes in rumen fermentation patterns and nutrient utilisation. This study investigated the effects of feeding four forage mixtures, namely grass silage (G); 67 g/100 g grass silage + 33 g/100 g maize silage (GGM); 67 g/100 g maize silage + 33/10...

The effects of three preslaughter diets on heifer beef quality were investigated. Heifers (n = 45) were divided into three groups and fed for ad libitum consumption either maize silage, grass silage, or a 50:50 mixture of maize silage and grass silage. Meat quality was determined by measuring color, lipid oxidation, alpha-tocopherol levels, and fatty acid composition. Beef from the maize silage...

This paper reviews the use of maize silage in pastoral dairying systems in New Zealand. The evolution of dairying systems to make profitable use of maize silage and other supplementary feeds has occurred during the last decade in conjunction with an increased use of maize silage. When used within recommended levels of feeding, maize silage provides a low cost source of starch and fibre which co...

The main objective of this work was anaerobic digestion of maize grains and maize silage and biogas production from these crops. Maize grains were treated using one-stage and two-stage anaerobic techniques; using hydrolysis and acidification as the first stage and methanogenesis as the second stage. Processing nonacidified maize grains in an anaerobic reactor is more stable, though the anaerobi...

Short description: In Bavaria, feeding cattle with maize silage is a common method, which is practiced even in for maize unfavorable locations. With increasing feed costs a partial substitution of maize by grass silage could be economically reasonable. Especially against the background of bioenergy production from cereals and maize, a competitive situation can evolve and grass as feedstuff can ...

In total, 20 multiparous Holstein-Friesian dairy cows received one of four diets in each of four periods of 28-day duration in a Latin square design to test the hypothesis that the inclusion of lucerne in the ration of high-yielding dairy cows would improve animal performance and milk fatty acid (FA) composition. All dietary treatments contained 0.55 : 0.45 forage to concentrates (dry matter (D...