Abstract
Mixed stands of faba bean + wheat (FBW; faba bean 0.84), and pea + wheat (PW; field pea 0.89 on dry matter [DM] basis) were harvested in Siikajoki, Finland. The crops were ensiled in triplicate in laboratory silos using four additive treatments: control without additive, two commercial lactic acid bacteria stains (LAB) and ACID (formic and propionic acids). Ensiling time was 105 days. The crops contained 173 and 181 g DM kg-1 and the water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentration was 156 and 176 g kg-1 DM in FBW and PW, respectively. ACID restricted silage fermentation in FBW (WSC 146; fermentation products 43 g kg-1 DM). The other silages had high concentration of fermentation products (180–204) and low WSC concentration (< 22 g kg-1 DM). The volatile fatty acid concentration was below 30 g kg-1 DM in all treatments. PW-ACID treatment resulted in higher ethanol concentration and better aerobic stability (>235 hours) compared to control or LAB silages. When ensiling wet legume whole crops effluent losses, extensive fermentation and poor aerobic stability may cause problems.
Highlights
Mixtures of small grain cereals and grain legumes harvested as whole crop silage can give high yield by one harvest in northern areas
Ensilability refers to how challenging the forage crop is to ensile and it can be evaluated by calculating the so-called fermentation coefficient based on dry matter (DM) and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentrations and buffering capacity of the crop (Weissbach and Honig 1996)
Wet faba bean + wheat (FBW) and pea + wheat (PW) silages went through extensive fermentation dominated by lactic acid production
Summary
Mixtures of small grain cereals and grain legumes harvested as whole crop silage can give high yield by one harvest in northern areas. Their agronomic benefits include possibility to use slurry or manure in spring time, nitrogen fixation of legume species and harvest time different from grasses. They may be used as a cover crop to establish new grass swards. Inclusion of grain legume-cereal mixtures into crop rotation and forage production should be justified based on their agronomic benefits (Huuskonen et al 2016)
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