Relation of Dry Matter Content in Ensiled Material and Other Factors to Nutrient Losses by Seepage

Abstract

Seepage losses were measured in 24, 8 by 24ft tower silos, in six experiments involving a wide variety of forages, additives, and other treatments. Dry matter content of the ensiled material, which varied from 12.2 to 38.6%, was the most important determinant of seepage losses. The best fitting prediction equation was: per cent of total dry matter lost = 26.962−1.576X + 0.02304X2, where X = per cent dry matter of ensiled material. The model accounted for 84% of the variation. Other factors such as forage species and type of additive had a modifying effect on these losses. The data and corresponding calculations indicate that attempts to substantially reduce seepage losses with additives are largely futile and impractical. In some instances total losses may be increased. With very high moisture forages, amounts of additive required to have important effects are extremely large, whereas at moderate forage moisture contents seepage losses are not large.Dry matter losses by seepage from 38 silos found in published literature of other experiment stations in the United States were analyzed for comparative purposes. On an average, somewhat higher amounts of dry matter were lost from these. However, the differences appear to have reasonable explanations when the experimental conditions are compared. The prediction equation from the combined data was:Per cent of total dry matter lost = 17.614−0.538X where X = % dry matter of ensiled material. The model accounted for 61% of the variation.