Apparent digestibility and nitrogen utilization of maize silage harvested at three stages of maturity and fed to beef cattle

Abstract

Development of early maturing forage maize varieties has enabled the crop to be grown in more marginal areas of the UK, consequently the crop is harvested at a range of maturities and dry matter (DM) concentrations. Digestibility of maize silage DM is reported to remain relatively constant over a wide range of maturities; however very mature maize is known to suffer reduced DM digestibility (Bal, Coors and Shaver, 1997). The objective of this experiment was to measure nutrient digestibility of maize silage harvested at stages of maturity commonly experienced in the UK.