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SILAGE-MAKING
Silage-making is an important method of conserving green fodder by converting it into silage. It is something like ‘Pickle green fodder’(achar). Silage can be called the fermented product of green forages where the acids produced by anaerobic fermentation of the sugars present in these forage.The basic function of silage-making is to store and preserve feed for later use with minimal loss of nutritional qualities. Silage making is less dependent than hay-making on good weather conditions and can be extended to a great variety of forage crops (Maize, sorghum, immature cereal grains, etc.) and locally available agro-industrial by products (sugar beet pulp, brewers grain, etc.). Silage making has become an important tool for producers to manage crop production and dairy herd feeding programs in many production systems around the world. However, silage makingrequires considerable capital and labour investments on the farm; it also demands a fairly high level of technical expertise. The understanding of how ensiling works to preserve a crop by fermentation is important. Forage preservation as silage is a key component of high input systems. It has allowed producers to intensify the productivity of the land and the productivity of the cows independently from each other. As silage making allows storage and preservation of feed resources for months, if not years, producers can focus on two separate objectives: 1) To maximize yield of digestible nutrients (energy, protein, etc.) per hectare of land; 2) to maximize milk production per cow throughout the year.
Advantages of silage-making
Silage making has some distinct advantages compared to hay-making:
> Silage is produced in both cold and cloudy weather;
> It is less at risk from the weather than haymaking;
> Improvement of the producer’s control over cutting dates and optimal stage of maturity at harvest;
> Minimization of loss of leaves and other small plant parts of high quality in the field;
> Storage of non-forage feeds that cannot be preserved as hay, such as agro-industrial by products;
> Plants can be harvested at optimal phase of development and are efficiently used by livestock.
> Reduction of nutrient loses(below 10%) which in hay may amount to 30% of the dry matter.
> More economical use of plants with high yield of green mass;
> Better use of the land with 2-3 crops annually; Requires 10 times less storage space compared to hay;
> The fermentation in silage reduces harmful nitrates accumulated in plants during droughts and in over-fertilized crops.
> Allows by-products (from sugar beet processing, maize straw, etc.) to be optimally used;
> Silage preserves 85 percent of feed energy. Hay under best conditions preserves
> Maize silage has 30-50% higher nutritive value compared to maize grain and maize straw;
> 2 kg of silage (70% moisture) has the equal nutritive value of 1 kg of hay.
Limitations of silage making
> Silage making requires high capital investment. Harvesters are needed to chop the forage, tractors or other heavy equipment are used to pack the silage, storage facilities (silo structures) may be expensive, and additional equipment may be required to remove silage from a silo;
> The management of silos is sometimes difficult on the farm because once a silo is opened, silage should be removed on a daily basis (to minimize loss of nutritive value)
> Adjusting the number of silos and their dimension to the expected feed out rate for a given herd size is difficult. Usually, only large herds can afford to feed out of different silos of varying forage qualities fodifferent groups of animals on the farm (heifers, dry cows, lactating cows, etc.);
> Once silage is removed from a silo, it becomes unstable (because of exposure to oxygen) and tends to spoil within a day or two (especially in warm weather conditions with well-preserved silages);
> Silage cannot be marketed easily (difficult to transport long distances);
> Loss of nutrients during storage in a silo is unavoidable and may be high if the silage is notprepared properly.
Suitable forage crops to be preserved as silage
The chemical composition of a forage crop or agro-industrial by-product plays an important role in determining the ease with which lactic acid fermentation can take place; and thus the ease with which a particular feed can be preserved as silage. It is easier to ensile forages that have: A high level of fermentable sugar; a low level of protein; a low buffering capacity; ideal dry matter content atensiling time. Corn is preserved as silage more easily than grasses or alfalfa because of its high sugar content, low protein content and low buffering capacity. In contrast, alfalfa is more difficult to ensile well because of its low sugar content and high buffering capacity, which is due in part to its high protein content (Table). Thus the higher the quality of alfalfa, the more challenging it is to ensile successfully.
ARTICLE CONTINUED - PART II
http://www.agricultureinformation.com/discuss/threads/forage-preservation-part-2.5315/
Article by :
Raj kumar, Rubina Gill, Bheru Lal Kumhar, Seema Jatand Shanker Lal Jat
Dayanand College, Ajmer
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kota
Indian Institute of Maize Research, New Delhi
Silage-making is an important method of conserving green fodder by converting it into silage. It is something like ‘Pickle green fodder’(achar). Silage can be called the fermented product of green forages where the acids produced by anaerobic fermentation of the sugars present in these forage.The basic function of silage-making is to store and preserve feed for later use with minimal loss of nutritional qualities. Silage making is less dependent than hay-making on good weather conditions and can be extended to a great variety of forage crops (Maize, sorghum, immature cereal grains, etc.) and locally available agro-industrial by products (sugar beet pulp, brewers grain, etc.). Silage making has become an important tool for producers to manage crop production and dairy herd feeding programs in many production systems around the world. However, silage makingrequires considerable capital and labour investments on the farm; it also demands a fairly high level of technical expertise. The understanding of how ensiling works to preserve a crop by fermentation is important. Forage preservation as silage is a key component of high input systems. It has allowed producers to intensify the productivity of the land and the productivity of the cows independently from each other. As silage making allows storage and preservation of feed resources for months, if not years, producers can focus on two separate objectives: 1) To maximize yield of digestible nutrients (energy, protein, etc.) per hectare of land; 2) to maximize milk production per cow throughout the year.
Advantages of silage-making
Silage making has some distinct advantages compared to hay-making:
> Silage is produced in both cold and cloudy weather;
> It is less at risk from the weather than haymaking;
> Improvement of the producer’s control over cutting dates and optimal stage of maturity at harvest;
> Minimization of loss of leaves and other small plant parts of high quality in the field;
> Storage of non-forage feeds that cannot be preserved as hay, such as agro-industrial by products;
> Plants can be harvested at optimal phase of development and are efficiently used by livestock.
> Reduction of nutrient loses(below 10%) which in hay may amount to 30% of the dry matter.
> More economical use of plants with high yield of green mass;
> Better use of the land with 2-3 crops annually; Requires 10 times less storage space compared to hay;
> The fermentation in silage reduces harmful nitrates accumulated in plants during droughts and in over-fertilized crops.
> Allows by-products (from sugar beet processing, maize straw, etc.) to be optimally used;
> Silage preserves 85 percent of feed energy. Hay under best conditions preserves
> Maize silage has 30-50% higher nutritive value compared to maize grain and maize straw;
> 2 kg of silage (70% moisture) has the equal nutritive value of 1 kg of hay.
Limitations of silage making
> Silage making requires high capital investment. Harvesters are needed to chop the forage, tractors or other heavy equipment are used to pack the silage, storage facilities (silo structures) may be expensive, and additional equipment may be required to remove silage from a silo;
> The management of silos is sometimes difficult on the farm because once a silo is opened, silage should be removed on a daily basis (to minimize loss of nutritive value)
> Adjusting the number of silos and their dimension to the expected feed out rate for a given herd size is difficult. Usually, only large herds can afford to feed out of different silos of varying forage qualities fodifferent groups of animals on the farm (heifers, dry cows, lactating cows, etc.);
> Once silage is removed from a silo, it becomes unstable (because of exposure to oxygen) and tends to spoil within a day or two (especially in warm weather conditions with well-preserved silages);
> Silage cannot be marketed easily (difficult to transport long distances);
> Loss of nutrients during storage in a silo is unavoidable and may be high if the silage is notprepared properly.
Suitable forage crops to be preserved as silage
The chemical composition of a forage crop or agro-industrial by-product plays an important role in determining the ease with which lactic acid fermentation can take place; and thus the ease with which a particular feed can be preserved as silage. It is easier to ensile forages that have: A high level of fermentable sugar; a low level of protein; a low buffering capacity; ideal dry matter content atensiling time. Corn is preserved as silage more easily than grasses or alfalfa because of its high sugar content, low protein content and low buffering capacity. In contrast, alfalfa is more difficult to ensile well because of its low sugar content and high buffering capacity, which is due in part to its high protein content (Table). Thus the higher the quality of alfalfa, the more challenging it is to ensile successfully.
ARTICLE CONTINUED - PART II
http://www.agricultureinformation.com/discuss/threads/forage-preservation-part-2.5315/
Article by :
Raj kumar, Rubina Gill, Bheru Lal Kumhar, Seema Jatand Shanker Lal Jat
Dayanand College, Ajmer
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kota
Indian Institute of Maize Research, New Delhi
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