Whole Crop Silage From Barley Fed in Combination with Red Clover Silage to Dairy Cows

Grass silage is the basic feed in Swedish dairy cow rations. The nitrogen utilisation in this type of diet is, however, low. A combination of forage legume protein and whole crop silage carbohydrates might be a solution to this problem. From other countries in Northern Europe the experience from feeding barley whole crop silage in combination with legumes is that it is possible to maintain a reasonably high milk production and at the same time have a good protein utilisation (Kristensen, 1992)

Impact of feed supplementation with balsam poplar buds on performance of young bulls

There is an urgent need to develop new strategies to minimize the environmental impact of animal production and support sustainability of food production and consumption. Feed additives have been for a long time used in animal nutrition to improve animal growth and performance as well as animal health. Balsam poplar plants (Populus balsamifera) is well known as a rich source of bioactive compounds with positive health effects, and might be used in agriculture as a feed additive for ruminants. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of balsam poplar-based additives on growth and performance of fattening young bulls of Simmental breed. In the present study, we used 4 combinations of extract from balsam poplar buds or its components as a feed additives. The animals were given the supplements at the age of 15 months, 3 months before slaughter. The growth and slaughter characteristics of young bulls were studied. After the first and second month of feeding with dietary supplements, animals from the groups fed 10% balsam poplar buds extract and dry shredded balsam poplar buds had significantly higher live weight compared to the control animals fed a diet without any supplements (P < 0.05). At slaughter, group fed 10% balsam poplar buds extract had significantly higher live weight compared to control. Average daily gain was also greatest in that group. Major sensory as well as physical and chemical parameters were not affected by balsam poplar-based supplements (p > 0.05 for all) and were in line with regulatory meat hygiene requirements

Dynamics of gas formation during ensilage

The formation of a whole spectrum of gasses, which is undesirable occurs during ensiling process. The formation of gasses is undesirable, because it is often a sign of undesirable processes in silages, and causes concern about the impact on the global environment. Formation of CO2 is the most abundant. Besides CO2, the formation of toxic N oxides also occurs during ensiling. Since silage additive addition affects the fermentation pattern, the aim of the study was to monitor the formation of various gasses from silages treated with different silage additives. A grass ley (70% timothy) was harvested on August 24th 2013, nearby Helsingborg. Bacterial inoculant (E. faecium, L. plantarum, L. buchneri) at the rate of 250000 cfu/g FF, and silage additive Safesil at the rate of 3 L/ton FF were compared with untreated control. Gasses collected in bags were analysed for N2, H2, O2, CO, CH4 by gas chromatographaphy. CO2, NO, and NO2 were absorbed in water and analysed using ion chromatography. Standard analyses to determine silage quality were performed after ensiling period. Silages treated with bacterial inoculant had significantly higher pH, propionic acid, acetic acid, and ethanol contents but lower concentration of lactic acid than other silage treatments. Control and bacterially inoculated silages produced more gas than Safesil treated silages, mainly due to an increased proportion of CO2. The formation of NOx gases displayed no significant differences among other treatments

The Influence of Crop Maturity and Type of Baler on Whole Crop Barley Silage Production

Bale ensiling is based on long cut forages. Earlier studies (Honig, 1984; 1987) have shown the importance of laceration and high density in preventing fungi growth and storage instability. On the other hand use of an efficient baling technology reduces the time between moving and wrapping of bale to less than 10 minutes with a combi-baler compared to two hours with a separate wrapper. Even during feeding late fermentation is restricted as the bale is fed within some hours after opening. Ensiling of whole crop cereals needs the addition of silage additives to avoid clostridial fermentation (Weissbach et al., 1988). Late silage additive studies have shown the impact of using sodium benzoate in combination with sodium nitrite to baled crops (Knicky & Lingvall, 2002)

The effect of nitrate content in forage on quality of silage fermentation

Nitrate content in fresh herbage is one of the factors affecting fermentation in silage. Hein (1970) observed that ensiling of forages with low nitrate content often results in silages with high butyric acid contents. Butyric acid is an undesirable product of clostridia in silages indicating low silage nutritional quality (Pahlow et al., 2003). The effect of nitrate on butyric acid formation is derived from its degradation products. Nitrate undergoes reduction to nitrite which can be further converted to nitric oxide which is considered to be toxic for clostridia (Spoelstra, 1983). Therefore, crops high in nitrate decreases clostridial activity and, hence, butyric acid formation. The effect of nitrate content in fresh crops on butyric acid formation was summarized by Weissbach (1996). The summary shows high occurrence (78%) of butyric acid in silages made from crops low (1 g NO3 per kg DM was only 26%. Since it is common to use silage additives to improve or secure a proper ensiling process, it is interesting to study how different nitrate contents in fresh crops influence efficiency of silage additives. The objective of the study was, therefore, to study the effect of nitrite containing silage additives on silage quality with crops differing in nitrate content

Leys from a Nordic perspective

The project involved creating a popular scientific review of the cultivation and use of leys for livestock. Target groups are the agricultural sector and industry. The project had four work packages (WP): crop production, harvest and conservation, feed value for different animals, and economy. Within each work package, search strings were developed and inclusion criteria defined, and a database for each WP developed through searching in online databases. Each selected article was assessed first on the title (include or exclude), second based on reading the abstract, and third based on reading the article. The review provides an extensive list of literature related to ley production and use, a description of the most important findings, and suggestions for future research

Effect of short-term versus long-term grassland management and seasonal variation in organic and conventional dairy farming on the composition of bulk tank milk

Bulk tank milk from 28 dairy farms was sampled every second month for 2 yr to assess the effects of grassland management, production system and season on milk fatty acid (FA) composition, concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins, Se, and milk sensory quality. Grassland management varied in terms of time since establishment. Short-term grassland management (SG) was defined as establishment or reseeding every fourth year or more often, and long-term grassland management (LG) was defined as less frequent establishment or reseeding. Fourteen organic (ORG) dairy farms with either short-term or long-term grassland management were paired with 14 conventional (CON) farms with respect to grassland management. Within ORG farms, SG farms differed from LG farms in herbage botanical composition, but not in concentrate FA concentrations, dry matter intake, or milk yield. Within CON farms, herbage composition, concentrate FA concentrations, dry matter intake, and milk yield showed no or insignificant variations. The ORG farms differed from CON farms in herbage botanical composition, concentrate FA concentrations, concentrate intake, and milk yield. Compared with ORG-LG farms, ORG-SG farms produced milk fat with higher proportions of C10:0 and C12:0 associated with higher herbage proportions of legumes (Fabaceae) and lower proportions of other dicotyledon families. Compared with milk from CON farms, milk fat from ORG farms had higher proportions of most saturated FA and all n-3 FA, but lower proportions of C18:0 and C18:1 cis-9 associated with higher forage proportion and differences in concentrations of FA in concentrates. Compared with the outdoor-feeding periods, the indoor feeding periods yielded milk fat with higher proportions of most short-chain and medium-chain FA and lower proportions of most C18-FA associated with grazing and higher forage proportions. Milk concentrations of α-tocopherol and β-carotene were lower during the grazing periods. Inclusion of fishmeal in organic concentrates may explain higher Se concentrations in organically produced milk. Milk sensory quality was not affected in this study. In conclusion, grassland management had minor effects on milk composition, and differences between ORG farms and CON farms may be explained by differences in concentrate intake and concentrate FA concentrations. Milk produced on ORG farms versus CON farms and milk produced during the outdoor versus indoor feeding periods had potential health benefits due to FA composition. In contrast, the higher milk-fat proportions of saturated FA in milk from ORG farms may be perceived as negative for human health

Possibilities to improve silage conservation

The objective of this thesis was to investigate factors to improve the silage quality of different types of forage crops. The focus was on the influence of crop maturity, silage additives and laceration on the quality of whole-crop cereals silages. The ensilability of whole-crop cereals was highly dependent upon the stage of maturity. An important factor related to the stage of maturity and influencing the ensilability of whole-crop cereals seems to be the concentration of WSC in the fresh forage. Ensiling at the milk stage was found to be a more suitable time to harvest whole-crop cereals since there is a sufficient concentration of water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) that provides the conditions for lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to rapidly dominate the silage microflora and produce enough acids to reduce pH thereby giving a better protection of the silage against the spoilage microflora. The low WSC concentration of whole-crop cereals at dough stage seems to restrain good fermentation. However, silages harvested at the milk stage still appear to have a low aerobic stability. Precision chopping had variable affects on silage fermentation and showed that laceration is not a guarantee of a good silage quality of whole-crop cereals. At the milk stage, precision chopping improved the silage fermentation, whereas the dough-stage silages tended to give clostridial fermentation resulting in poor quality and high DM losses. Precision chopping promoted a higher silage density at the milk stage and resulted in reduced DM losses at the dough stage. Application of silage additives was the most important factor in improving silage quality. A mixture of sodium benzoate, sodium propionate, hexamine and sodium nitrite seems to be the most suitable additive to secure the silage quality and improve the aerobic stability in whole-crop cereals as well as in moderate and highly -wilted clover-grass forages. No remaining toxic residues of the nitrite concentration were found in the silages. A similar influence on the ensiling process is found when using the combination of sodium benzoate, sodium propionate and propionic acid. The results of mixtures of formic acid and propionic acid were closely related to the chop length of the forage. These additive combinations seem to improve the silage quality and storage stability in precision-chopped silages at both maturities, while the quality of long-cut treated silages often appeared to be low. The variable efficiency of inoculation of whole crop cereals with LAB seems to be associated with types and numbers of epiphytic bacteria in the herbage. The inoculation of homofermentative LAB successfully reduced pH of both precision-chopped and long cut-silages but abundant production of lactic acid did not secure the aerobic stability of thes