Wheat middlings in high concentrate rations: digestibility and ruminal metabolism

Six medium-framed steers, fitted with ruminal cannulae were used in a 6 × 6 Latin square design and fed the following six high concentrat e (90%) rations: control; 5, 10, or 15% pelleted wheat middlings (WM) replacing the concentrate (dry rolled corn); and 5 or 10% pelleted WM replacing the roughage (chopped alfalfa hay). Dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and starch digestibilities decreased linearly when increasing levels of WM replaced the concentrate , but replacing the roughage increased DM and OM digestibilities linearly. WM could replace only up to 5 % of the concentrate without reducing nutrient digestibilities, but complete (10% WM) replacement of the roughage increased nutrient digestibilities

Effect of bacterial inoculants on the preservation of alfalfa and whole-plant corn silages

Inoculated and control alfalfa and corn silages were compared in pilot-scale silos. Inoculated silages for both crops had higher lactic acid contents and DM recoveries and lower values for pH, acetic acid, ethanol, and ammonia-nitrogen than controls—evidence that the inoculants produced a more efficient fermentation. These results are consistent with numerous studies that compared untreated and inoculant-treated silages over a wide range of crops and ensiling conditions in our research during the past several years

Whole-plant corn, forage sorghum, and grain sorghum silages for growing cattle

Agronomic and cattle performance traits were measured for eight silages produced in 1991. The silages were: irrigated Pioneer 3377 corn; dryland (early-planted) DeKalb 535 corn; irrigated and dryland DeKalb DK 42Y grain sorghum; and dryland forage sorghums Cargill 200F, Pioneer 947, Northrup King (NK) 300, and Funk's 102F. The irrigated corn and NK 300 and Funk's 102F forage sorghums had the highest whole-plant dry matter (DM) yields per acre; early-planted corn had the lowest yield. The dryland grain sorghum had the highest grain yield and the early-planted corn, the lowest. Average daily gains (ADG) were excellent for steers fed each of the eight silage rations and reflected the relatively high grain contents of the silages and the high DM intakes (2.37 to 2.81% of body wt). As expected, the irrigated corn silage produced the fastest and most efficient gain; the late-maturing, Funk's 102F forage sorghum produced the slowest and least efficient gain

Evaluation of 20 corn hybrids for silage agronomic characteristics

Twenty corn hybrids were grown under irrigation and harvested at 90 % of the kernel milk line. Hybrid had a significant effect on plant height, whole-plant dry matter (DM) and DM yield, grain yield, stover yield, and plant part proportions. The highest whole-plant DM (45.9%) was for Cargill 7997, whereas the lowest was for Cargill 4327 (30.1%). Cargill 8427 and Pioneer 3245 had the highest wholeplant DM and grain yields, whereas Cargill 4327 was lowest. Grain yield and the percentage of grain in the whole-plant DM increased as the plant height increased

Wheat middlings in high concentrate finishing rations: cattle performance

One hundred twenty medium-framed steers were fed one of six high (90%) concentrate rations: control (0), 5, 10, or 15% pelleted wheat middlings (WM) replacing the concentrate (dry rolled corn) and 5 or 10% pelleted WM replacing the roughage (chopped alfalfa hay). Increasing WM replacement of the concentrate increased both dry matter (DM) intake and feed/gain ratio linearly, without influencing daily gain or final weight. WM replacement of the roughage decreased DM intake linearly, but it ha d no effect on daily gain, final weight, or feed efficiency . The data indicate that WM could replace only 5% of the concentrate without reducing cattle performance, but complete (100%) or partial (50%) replacement of the roughage with WM had no adverse effect on cattle performance

Effects of sorghum hybrid and grain supplementation on the utilization of silage-based rations for growing cattle

Three whole-plant sorghum silages, each with or without 25% added rolled grain sorghum were fed to six medium-framed, ruminally cannulated steers in a 6 × 6 Latin square design. The grain sorghum silage rations (DeKalb 42Y) had the highest DM, OM, and ADF digestibilities; the late-season forage sorghum silage rations (DeKalb FS 25E), the lowest. Digestibility of NDF tended to be highest for the grain sorghum silage, but starch digestibilities were not affected by sorghum hybrid. Ruminal ammonia, acetate, propionate, butyrate, and total VFA concentrations were highest for the grain sorghum silage rations. Grain supplementation increased DM and OM digestibilities but had no effect on NDF, ADF, or starch digestibilities. Ruminal pH was decreased, whereas VFA concentrations were not affected by grain supplementation. The grain sorghum silage had the highest nutritive value, and the middle-season forage sorghum silage (DeKalb FS 5) was superior to the late-season forage sorghum. These results are consistent with several of our previous trials, which compared grain and forage sorghum silages for growing (backgrounding) cattle

Effect of grain content on the nutritive value of whole-plant grain sorghum silage

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of grain content on the nutritive value of whole-plant grain sorghum silage. Silage dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) contents increased with increasing levels of grain in the reconstituted, whole-plant silages, whereas neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents decreased as the level of grain increased from 0 to 48%. When fed to sheep (used as a model), voluntary DM intake and DM and OM digestibilities increased in a linear manner, whereas ADF digestibility decreased with increasing level of grain. Crude protein and NDF digestibilities responded in a quadratic fashion to increasing grain content. These results suggest that the optimum level of grain in whole-plant grain sorghum silage is at least 48% of the DM in a high silage-based ration