Whole-crop Cereal Silage Research Articles

Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Grass and Whole-Crop Cereal Silages—A Farm Survey

Mycotoxin incidence in forage may heavily affect the amount of toxins consumed by cattle. However, many studies have focused on mycotoxin occurrence in cereals and there are less studies of forages, particularly of grass silages. For determining the occurrence of mycotoxins in farm silages under Northern European conditions in Finland, 37 grass silage and 6 whole-crop cereal silage batches were analysed separately for surface, core and, if present, visibly mouldy spots. Mycotoxins were found in 92% of the samples. All mouldy samples contained mycotoxins. Beauvericin was the most common mycotoxin in grass silages and roquefortine C in whole-crop cereal silages. In mouldy samples, beauvericin, mycophenolic acid and roquefortine C were the most common mycotoxins in the grass silage and mycophenolic acid in the whole-crop cereal silage. Aflatoxins were not found in any of the samples. On average, all samples contained more than one type of mycotoxin. Concentrations of mycotoxins varied considerably from very low to very high values. The results of this survey indicate that silage-fed ruminants can be exposed to a broad range of mycotoxins. The absence of visible moulds does not always indicate mycotoxin-free feed. All moulded samples contained mycotoxins and some at very high concentrations, and they contained more different types of mycotoxins than samples without visible mould. Thus, feeding mouldy feeds to animals should be avoided.

Effects of Various Additives on Fermentation, Aerobic Stability and Volatile Organic Compounds in Whole-Crop Rye Silage

Whole-crop cereal silage represents an important component of ruminant diets and is used as a substrate for biogas production. Due to the scarcity of data on whole-crop rye (Secale cereale L., WCR), our study aimed to evaluate the effects of a range of biological and chemical additives of different compositions on the fermentation and aerobic stability of silage made from this species. In addition, the production of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which potentially contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, was monitored. Regardless of additive treatment, all WCR silages were well fermented as reflected by the complete absence of butyric acid. Inoculants containing Lactobacillus buchneri and chemical additives reduced dry matter (DM) losses during fermentation for 53 days (p < 0.001), which were closely related with the concentration of ethanol upon silo opening (R2 = 0.88, p < 0.001). Silage treated with Lactobacillus buchneri, alone or in combination with a homofermentative strain, had the lowest yeast count (p < 0.001) and, simultaneously, the highest aerobic stability (p < 0.001). Chemical additives outperformed all other additives by largely restricting the formation of ethyl esters of lactic and acetic acids (p < 0.001). The concentration of ethanol strongly correlated with those of ethyl lactate (R2 = 0.94, p < 0.001), ethyl acetate (R2 = 0.85, p < 0.001), and total ethyl esters (R2 = 0.94, p < 0.001). The use of a simple linear regression model exclusively based on the ethanol content proved useful to predict the concentration of total ethyl esters in WCR silage (R2 = 0.93, p < 0.001).

Cell wall chemical characteristics of whole-crop cereal silages harvested at three maturity stages.

BackgroundIn cooler climates such as found in Scandinavian countries cereals are important feedstuffs for ruminants often ensiled as whole‐crop cereal silages (WCCS) to preserve nutrients. Animal performance varies with the type of cereal forage and stage of cereal development being ensiled. Cell wall isolation and analysis was undertaken to determine differences among cereal silages harvested at different stages of maturity.ResultsA set of 27 WCCS samples of barley, wheat and oats harvested at heading, early milk, and dough stages of maturity were analyzed for cell wall (CW) composition and compared to previous NDF analyses. Total CW concentrations of the WCCS were higher than the NDF concentration. The lignin concentration was higher (P < 0.001) in oats (111 g kg−1 DM) than in barley (88 g kg−1 DM) and wheat (91 g kg−1 DM). Ferulates (ester and ether linked) ranged from 12.2 to 14.9 g kg−1 across forage types and maturity stages. The correlation between total cell wall xylose and HC concentrations (NDF‐ADF) was lower than expected in all forages (R = 0.63).ConclusionThe more comprehensive analyses of cell walls provide detailed composition of the different WCCS that vary due to the maturity and type of cereal. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Faecal characteristics and milk production of dairy cows in early-lactation fed diets differing in forage types in commercial herds

ABSTRACTEffects of grass–clover silage (GCS) alone or combined with whole-crop cereal silage, maize silage (MS) or ensiled pressed sugar beet pulp (EPSB) on faecal characteristics and performance of early-lactation dairy cows were studied in 26 herds. Data were analysed with herd as the experimental unit and correlation coefficients among the variables were estimated. Feeding MS combined with GCS resulted in faeces of a firmer consistency (P < .05), containing more undigested fibre compared to feeding GCS alone or with EPSB (P < .05). There was a strong positive correlation between the number of grains and starch concentration in faeces (r = 0.83, P < .001). Increasing forage dry matter (DM) intake decreased faecal DM concentration (r = −0.54, P < .01) but seems to result in cleaner cows, whereas increasing DM intake of concentrate increased faecal DM concentration (r = 0.63, P < .01) but might result in dirtier cows.

Effect of cereal and pea monocultures and combinations and silage additives on whole-crop cereal silage nutritive and fermentation characteristics

The efficient production and utilisation of home-grown feed is considered one of the key factors that underpins the profitability of dairy systems in southern Australia. The use of winter forage cereals for grazing and silage provides an opportunity to achieve high dry matter yields over the winter and spring period. However, questions remain on the nutritive value of whole-crop cereal silage and its subsequent use as a production feed in livestock systems. This experiment examined the nutritive characteristics of winter wheat, triticale, forage peas and bi-crops of cereals and peas sown at different proportions, cut for silage at the soft dough growth stage of the cereals and their subsequent silage nutritive characteristics and fermentation patterns when ensiled with and without bacterial inoculant additives over 2 consecutive years. The estimated metabolisable energy (ME) (Year 1) and crude protein (CP) (Years 1 and 2) concentrations of the forage pea before and after ensiling were higher (P &lt; 0.05) than all other forages in both years. The cereal–pea mixes had similar estimated ME values to the cereal monocultures both before harvesting and as silage, although there were significant improvements in CP concentration at the higher rates of pea inclusion. All resultant silages were well fermented as indicated by low pH, low proportions of total N as ammonia-N and high lactic acid concentrations. There were marked differences in the proportions of lactic acid and acetic acid in the pea silages between years and this is likely a result of dry matter content differences at ensiling. There was no effect of silage additives on resultant silage nutritive characteristics or fermentation parameters indicating that well fermented silage can be achieved without the additional cost of using a silage additive. This study has indicated that forage peas can be ensiled with winter cereals and produce silages that have higher CP concentrations than cereal silage but with similar fermentation parameters. Furthermore, this experiment has highlighted the potential of growing a monoculture of forage peas for ensiling with the resulting silage having higher estimated ME and CP concentrations.

Intake and digestion of whole-crop barley and wheat silages by dairy heifers1,2

The effect of maturity at harvest on the digestibility and intake of large bale silage made from whole-crop barley and wheat when fed to growing heifers was evaluated. Two crops of spring barley (Hordeum distichum cv. Filippa and Kinnan) and 1 of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. Olevin) were harvested at the heading, milk, and dough stages of maturity. The silage was fed to 36 dairy heifers in a balanced crossover experiment with 3 periods and 9 treatments (diets based on 3 crops and 3 stages of maturity), organized into 6 pairs of 3 × 3 Latin squares. No clear relationship was observed between intake and stage of maturity of whole-crop cereal silage, but intake was positively correlated to silage DM content (P < 0.001, r = 0.46) and negatively correlated to NDF content (P < 0.001, r = -0.42). Organic matter digestibility decreased between the heading and milk stages of maturity in all crops (P < 0.001), did not differ between the milk and the dough stages in the 2 barley crops, but increased in the wheat silage (P = 0.034). The NDF digestibility decreased between the heading and milk stages in all crops (P < 0.001), whereas it decreased in 1 barley crop (P < 0.001), increased in the other barley (P = 0.025), and was unchanged in the wheat between the milk and dough stages of maturity. Starch digestibility was less in the 2 barley crops compared with the wheat at the dough stage of maturity (P < 0.001). The feeding value of the whole-crop barley and wheat declined between the heading and milk stages of maturity, but thereafter the effect of maturity on the feeding value was minor.

Digestibility of whole-crop barley and oat silages in dairy heifers

This study evaluated the digestibility of whole-crop cereal silage (WCCS) made from oats and six-rowed barley harvested at the heading, early milk and early dough stages, and two-rowed barley harvested at the early milk and early dough stages of maturity. The eight WCCSs were fed to 32 Swedish Red heifers in a changeover design over three periods of 28 days each. The heifers were first fed ad libitum for 17 days and then at 0.95 of ad libitum for 11 days of each period. During the last 5 days all faeces and orts were collected to determine the digestibility of the silages. Only the maturity stage effect was significant for the WCCS organic matter (OM) digestibility and the average OM digestibility was higher at the heading stage (698 g/kg) than at early milk (647 g/kg) and early dough (652 g/kg) stages of maturity. For neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility the crop × maturity stage effect was significant. The NDF digestibility decreased from the heading to the early milk stage for both six-rowed barley (746 to 607 g/kg) and oats (698 to 596 g/kg). There was no further significant decrease in NDF digestibility for six-rowed barley at the early dough stage (577 g/kg), but for two-rowed barley it decreased from the early milk (682 g/kg) to the early dough (573 g/kg) stage, and also for oats the NDF digestibility was lowest at the early dough stage (507 g/kg). The decrease in NDF digestibility during maturation was to a large extent compensated by an increase in starch concentration in the crops. The starch digestibility was lower for six-rowed barley at early dough stage (948 g/kg) than at early milk stage (977 g/kg), and was also lower compared with oats (979 g/kg) at early dough stage. The average crude protein (CP) digestibility was higher at the heading (646 g/kg) and the early milk (642 g/kg) stages than at the early dough stage (599 g/kg), and oats had higher average CP digestibility (650 g/kg) than six-rowed (613 g/kg) and two-rowed (624 g/kg) barley. Delaying the harvest of WCCS from the heading to the early milk and dough stage of maturity will decrease the OM digestibility; as a result there is a decreased NDF digestibility.

A meta-analysis of feed digestion in dairy cows. 2. The effects of feeding level and diet composition on digestibility

A meta-analysis based on published experiments with lactating dairy cows fed mainly grass silage-based diets was conducted to study the effects of intake, diet composition, and digestibility at a maintenance level of feeding on the apparent total diet digestibility. A data set that included a total of 497 dietary treatment means from 92 studies was collected and analyzed using mixed model regression analysis with a random study effect. Diet organic matter digestibility (OMD) in dairy cows at a production level (OMDp) was positively associated with OMD at maintenance (OMDm), but the slope was less than 1 (0.69). Diet OMDp decreased as feed intake increased, and diets with high OMDm exhibited greater depressions in digestibility with increased intake than did diets with low OMDm. Digestibility of organic matter and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) increased as dietary crude protein concentration increased, whereas increased concentrate fat decreased digestibility. Replacement of grass silage with whole-crop cereal silage was associated with a quadratic decrease in diet digestibility. Metabolic fecal output, defined as fecal organic matter minus NDF, averaged 95.8 (SE=0.65) g/kg of dry matter intake, and it was not influenced by intake or diet composition. Variation in OMDp in cows fed grass silage-based diets was therefore attributable to variation in dietary NDF concentration and NDF digestibility. Depression in digestibility of organic matter with increased intake was less than predicted by the National Research Council and Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein systems. The following 2-parameter model indicates that the difference between OMD estimated in sheep fed at maintenance compared with dairy cows at production level is related both to dry matter intake and digestibility at maintenance level: OMDp=257 (±43) + 0.685 (±0.054) × OMDm (g/kg of dry matter) – 2.6 (±0.44) × dry matter intake (kg/d); adjusted residual mean square error=8.4g/kg. It was concluded that diet digestibility in dairy cows can be predicted accurately and precisely from digestibility estimated at maintenance intake in sheep by using regression models including animal and dietary factors.

A meta-analysis of feed digestion in dairy cows. 1. The effects of forage and concentrate factors on total diet digestibility

A meta-analysis based on published experiments with lactating dairy cows was conducted to study the effects of dietary forage and concentrate factors on apparent total diet digestibility. A data set was collected that included a total of 497 dietary treatment means from 92 studies. The diets were based on grass silage or on legume or whole-crop cereal silages partly or completely substituted for grass silage. The silages were supplemented with concentrates given at a flat rate within a dietary comparison. For the statistical evaluation, the data were divided into 5 subsets to quantify silage (digestibility, 42 diets in 17 studies; fermentation characteristics, 108 diets in 39 studies) and concentrate (amount of supplementation, 142 diets in 59 studies; concentration of crude protein, 215 diets in 82 studies; carbohydrate composition, 66 diets in 23 studies) factors on total diet digestibility. The diet digestibility of dairy cows was determined by total fecal collection or by using acid-insoluble ash as an internal marker. Diet organic matter digestibility (OMD) at a maintenance level of feeding (OMDm) was estimated using sheep in vivo or corresponding in vitro digestibility values for the forage and reported ingredient and chemical composition values, with tabulated digestibility coefficients for the concentrate components of the diet. A mixed model regression analysis was used to detect the responses of different dietary factors on apparent total diet digestibility. Improved silage OMDm resulting from earlier harvest was translated into improved production-level OMD in cows (OMDp). The effects of silage fermentation characteristics on OMDp were quantitatively small, although sometimes significant. Concentrate supplementation improved total diet OMDm, but this was not realized in lactating dairy cows because of linearly decreased neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility as concentrate intake increased. Increasing the concentrate crude protein amount quadratically improved OMDp in cows, with the response being mostly due to improved NDF digestibility. Replacement of starchy concentrates with fibrous by-products slightly decreased OMDp but tended to improve NDF digestibility. The true digestibility of cell solubles (OM – NDF) estimated by the Lucas test both from all data and from the data subsets was not significantly different from 1.00, suggesting that responses in OMDp of dairy cows are mediated through changes in the concentration and digestibility of NDF.

Voluntary intake and diet selection by dairy heifers fed ensiled whole-crop barley and oats harvested at different stages of maturity

This study evaluated feed intake and diet selection of dairy heifers fed whole-crop cereal silage made from oats and six-rowed barley harvested at the heading, early milk and early dough stages, and two-rowed barley harvested at the early milk and early dough stages of maturity. The silages were fed ad libitum to 32 Swedish Red dairy heifers, during three 17-day periods. The oat silage harvested at the early dough stage resulted in a higher dry-matter intake (DMI; 1.92 kg/100 kg live weight (LW)) and a higher organic matter intake (OMI; 1.73 kg/100 kg LW) than the oat silage harvested at the heading stage (DMI = 1.57 kg/100 kg LW; OMI = 1.37 kg/100 kg LW). The DMI, OMI and NDFI of six-rowed barley silage were higher when harvested at the heading stage (2.08, 1.80 and 1.06 kg/100 kg LW) than when harvested at the early milk (1.74, 1.48 and 0.76 kg/100 kg LW) and early dough stages (1.62, 1.46 and 0.70 kg/100 kg LW). The DMI, OMI and NDFI were higher for six-rowed barley than for oat silage harvested at heading, whereas feeding oat silage resulted in a higher NDFI than six-rowed barley silage when harvested at the early dough stage. Reduced intake of barley silage harvested at the early dough stage probably was due to the presence of barbed awns, whilst reduced intake of the early harvested oat silage was most likely due to a low DM content and a high content of fermentation products. When fed oat or two-rowed barley silage harvested at the early dough stage, the heifers selected fractions low in NDF. This indicates that heifers are likely to feed selectively when fed whole-crop cereal silages prepared from crops harvested at the early dough stage.

Intake, digestibility, rumen fermentation and performance of beef cattle fed diets based on whole-crop wheat or barley harvested at two cutting heights relative to maize silage or ad libitum concentrates

This experiment aimed to quantify the relative intake, digestibility, rumen fermentation, performance and carcass characteristics of beef cattle fed diets based on good quality whole-crop wheat and barley silages, each harvested at two cutting heights, and to rank these relative to good quality maize silage and an ad libitum concentrates-based diet. Ninety beef steers, initial live-weight 438 ± 31.0 kg, were allocated to one of the following dietary treatments in a randomised complete block design: maize silage (MS), whole-crop wheat harvested at a normal cutting height (WCW) (stubble height 0.12 m) or an elevated cutting height (HCW) (stubble height 0.29 m), whole-crop barley harvested at a normal cutting height (WCB) (stubble height 0.13 m) or an elevated cutting height (HCB) (stubble height 0.30 m), each being supplemented with 3 kg concentrates/head/day, and ad libitum concentrates (ALC) supplemented with 5 kg grass silage/head/day for the duration of the 160-day study. Mean dry matter (DM) of the maize silage, whole-crop wheat, head-cut wheat, whole-crop barley and head-cut barley was 301, 488, 520, 491 and 499 g/kg, respectively. There were no differences in total DM intake among treatments, or in rumen fermentation characteristics (except ammonia), or in DM digestibility among the forage-based treatments. Neutral detergent fibre digestibility was lower (P<0.05) for whole-crop wheat than head-cut barley, and starch digestibility was lower (P<0.05) for whole-crop barley and head-cut barley than maize silage. Steers fed ALC had a higher carcass gain (P<0.001) and carcass weight (P<0.05) than all other treatments, but there were no differences between any of the forage-based treatments. Steers fed MS had a better feed conversion efficiency (FCE) than those on WCW or WCB (P<0.05) but were similar to HCW and HCB. The FCE was better for ALC versus any of the other treatments, particularly compared to WCW or WCB (P<0.001). Subcutaneous fat from steers fed ALC was more yellow (P<0.01) than that from steers fed the other treatments. Neither intake nor performance were altered by raising the cutting height of cereals or by replacing whole-crop wheat by barley. However, head-cut cereals numerically favoured DM intake, carcass gain and feed conversion efficiency values nearer to that of maize than whole-crop cereal silages. Ad libitum concentrates supported superior levels of growth by steers compared to all other treatments.

The Effect of Bacterial Inoculants and a Chemical Preservative on the Fermentation and Aerobic Stability of Whole-crop Cereal Silages

Three microorganisms and one chemical preservative were tested for their effects on the fermentation and aerobic stability of whole-crop wheat, sorghum and maize silages. Wheat at the early dough stage, sorghum at the late milk stage and maize at the one-third milk line stage were harvested and ensiled in 1.5-1 anaerobic jars untreated or after the following treatments: control (no additives); Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) at 1.0×10 6 colony-forming units (CFU)/g of fresh forage; L. buchneri (LB) at 1.0×10 6 CFU/g; Propionibacterium acidipropionici (PA) at 1.0×10 6 CFU/g; and a formic acid-based preservative (FAP) at 3 ml/kg of fresh forage weight. Three jars per treatment were sampled on d 90 after ensiling, for chemical and microbiological analysis. At the end of the ensiling period, 90 d, the silages were subjected to an aerobic stability test lasting 5 d. In this test, CO 2 produced during aerobic exposure was measured along with chemical and microbiological parameters which serve as spoilage indicators. The silages inoculated with LP had higher concentration of lactic acid compared with the controls and the other treated silages (p<0.05). The controls and LP-inoculated silages spoiled upon aerobic exposure faster than LB, PA and FAP-treated silages. The controls and LP-inoculated silages spoiled upon aerobic exposure faster than LB, PA and FAP-treated silages due to more CO 2 production (p<0.05) in these two groups and development of yeasts unlike the other groups. In the experiment, the silages treated with LB, PA and FAP were stable under aerobic conditions. However, the numbers of yeasts was higher in the LP-inoculated wheat, sorghum and maize silages compared with the LB, PA and FAP-treated silages. The LB, PA and FAP improved the aerobic stability of the silages by causing more extensive heterolactic fermentation that resulted in the silages with high levels of acetic and propionic acid. The use of LB, PA and FAP as silage additives can improve the aerobic stability of whole-crop wheat, sorghum and maize silages by inhibition of yeast activity.

Evaluation of the factors affecting silage intake of dairy cows: a revision of the relative silage dry-matter intake index

An evaluation of the factors affecting silage dry-matter intake (SDMI) of dairy cows was conducted based on dietary treatment means. The data were divided into six subsets based on the silage treatments used in the experiments: concentration of digestible organic matter in dry matter (D-value) influenced by the maturity of grass ensiled (n = 81), fermentation quality influenced by silage additives (n = 240), dry matter (DM) concentration influenced by wilting of grass prior to ensiling (W; n = 85), comparison of silages made from primary growth or regrowth of grass (n = 46), and replacement of grass silage with legume (L; n = 53) or fermented whole-crop cereal (WC; n = 37) silages. The data were subjected to the mixed model regression analysis. Both silage D-value and fermentation quality significantly affected SDMI. The average effects of D-value and total acid (TA) concentration were 17.0 g and − 12.8 per 1 g/kg DM, respectively. At a given D-value, silage neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) concentration tended to decrease SDMI. Silage TA concentration was the best fermentation parameter predicting SDMI. Adding other parameters into the multivariate models did not improve the fit and the slopes of the other parameters remained insignificant. Total NDF intake was curvilinearly related to silage D-value the maximum intake being reached at a D-value of 640 g/kg DM. Results imply that physical fill is not limiting SDMI of highly digestible grass silages and that both physical and metabolic factors constrain total DM intake in an interactive manner. Silage DM concentration had an independent curvilinear effect on SDMI. Replacing primary growth silage with regrowth, L or WC silages affected SDMI significantly, the response to regrowth silage being linearly decreasing and to L and WC quadratically increasing. The outcome of factors affecting SDMI was used to update the relative SDMI index as follows: SDMI index = 100+10 × [(D-value − 680) × 0.0170 − (TA − 80) × 0.0128+(0.0198 × (DM − 250) − 0.00002364 × (DM2 − 250 2)) − 0.44 × a+4.13 × b − 2.58 × b2+5.90 × c − 6.14 × c2 − 0.0023 × (550 − NDF)], where a, b and c represent the proportions (0–1) of regrowth, L or WC silages from total silage DM. For the whole data set, one index unit corresponded to the default value of 0.10 kg in SDMI. The SDMI index explained proportionally 0.852 of the variation in SDMI with 0.34 kg DM per day residual. The updated SDMI index provides improved basis for the practical dairy cow ration formulation and economic evaluation.

Cereal forage breeding for New Zealand agriculture

Cereal forages provide both arable and livestock farmers with high yields of high quality dry matter to use as either standing or conserved strategic forage supplements where deficits occur when animal feed requirements exceed pasture growth. Crop &amp; Food Research has breeding programmes for both single and multigrazing forage oats and triticales, and both green-chop and whole-crop silage forage oats, triticales and barleys. It also has an associated cereal forage management research and tech-transfer programme to ensure cereal forages achieve their potential under New Zealand's variable soil and climatic conditions. This has led to the development of new cereal forage cultivars, an increased understanding of their dry matter and quality development, and management support packages including a cereal silage booklet and maturity predictor for whole-crop cereal silage

Feed-out losses of whole-crop cereal silage

The utilisation of whole-crop cereal silage, when fed on pasture, is an unknown factor when assessing the economics of whole-crop cereal silage in dairy farming systems. This study aimed to document the utilisation of whole-crop cereal silage and compare it to the utilisation of pasture silage fed under the same conditions. Data was collected from nine whole-crop cereal and two pasture silage feeding events during the autumn and spring of 2004. The concentration of silage fed in spring (3.04 kg (dry matter) DM/m) was lower (P

Dairy cow production when supplemented with whole-crop cereal silages in spring and autumn

The on-farm milk production, pasture intake and silage intake of cows fed either whole-crop cereal silage or pasture silage as a supplement to pasture was compared in four herds in autumn and two herds in spring during 2002 and 2003. The number of cows per herd ranged from 90 to 270 cows per feeding treatment. Silages were supplemented at rates determined by farmer feed budget. The amount offered ranged from 3 to 6.6 kg DM/cow/ day. Pasture intake estimates ranged from 7.2 to 13.0 kg DM/cow/day. Milksolids (MS) production ranged from 0.93 to 1.61 kg/cow/day in autumn and from 1.33 to 1.98 kg/cow in spring. The feeding of whole-crop cereal silage produced more MS production in two autumn studies compared to feeding pasture silage as a supplement (+0.08 kg/cow/d; P

Estimated metabolizable energy yields of perennial and annual grass swards compared with those of spring barley and oat

The dry matter yields of cultivar trials (from 1976 to 1998 at 15 sites in Finland) of perennial grass sward (meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis) cv. Boris), annual grass sward (Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), cv. Barmultra and Mitos), spring barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Otra, Arra, Arve) and oat (Avena sativa cv. Veli) were used to estimate metabolisable energy yields (MEY) by using the feeds metabolisable energy concentration values (MJ/kg DM) from ruminant feed tables. Harvest index (HI) of barley and oat was set to 50%, and straw yields and whole crop cereal silage (WCCS) yields were generated from grain yields accordingly. The MEY in the third year of perennial grass (81.4 GJ/ha) was significantly lower than that in the first (90.0 GJ/ha) and second years (90.7 GJ/ha). However, on average, the one to three year old perennial grass-swards had significantly higher MEY than the annual grass swards (87.7 vs. 83.3 GJ/ha, respectively). The MEYs of perennial and annual grass swards were substantially higher than the MEY of barley grain (52.7 GJ/ha) and oat grain (47. 8 GJ/ha). When the total herbage of cereals, i.e. straw and grain, was used in the calculations, at a ME value of 6.0 MJ/ kg dry matter (DM) for straw, the MEY of barley rose to 75.8 GJ/ha and that of oat to 72.6 GJ/ha. Additionally, the MEY of barley was estimated in the WCCS production situation by converting total herbage to MEY by using ME value 9.9 MJ/kg DM. The MEY of barley in the WCCS calculations was 77.4 GJ/ha, which was significantly lower than the MEY of annual and perennial grass swards. The MEY of barley was a) 60%, b) 86%, and c) 88% of the average MEY of one to three year old perennial grass sward when the MEY of barley was calculated according to a) grain, b) grain + straw, and c) whole crop cereal silage. Perennial grass sward was the most productive of the studied crops in metabolisable energy production for ruminants.

Partial replacement of grass silage with whole-crop cereal silage for growing beef cattle

Partial replacement of grass silage with whole-crop cereal silage for growing beef cattle

Influence of crop stage of growth on aerobic-stability and chemical profile of enzyme-treated whole-crop wheat silage

Doubts have been expressed about the aerobic stability of whole-crop cereal silages. Urea and ammonia additives have proved effective in controlling aerobic deterioration (Deschard et al., 1988). The aim was to evaluate the effects of two commercially-produced (Finnish Sugar Co. Ltd., Helsinki) cellulase and hemicellulase mixtures (Clampzyme [CLZ] and Deezyme [DEZ]) on fermentation and aerobic stability of winter-sown wheat (cv Brock), harvested at four stages of growth.The experiment was of 4 x 2 x 4 x 2 factorial design. The crop was direct-cut harvested (precision chopped) and ensiled for 150 days in mini-silos (polypropylene sack enclosed in polyethene sack; 5.0 kg dry matter (DM) of crop; plastic-strip seals). Harvesting was at 4 moisture-content (g DM/kg) stages of growth: cut 1, 300 (heading); cut 2, 400 (mealy); cut 3, 500 (soft/medium dough); cut 4, 650 (hard dough). Enzymes were applied at 4 levels: 0, 0.3, 0.7 and 1.0 1/tonne (t) DM for CLZ and 0, 1.0, 1.3 and 1.7 1/t DM for DEZ. Silos were either evacuated and sealed immediately (IMM) or sealed after 24 h (DEL).