Matthew A. Young

Effect of a propionic acid bacterial inoculant on fermentation and aerobic stability of whole-plant corn silage

The effects of a strain of Propionibacterium shermanii, applied with and without lactic acid bacteria (LAB), on the fermentation and aerobic stability of whole-plant corn silage was determined using laboratory-scale silos. The addition of LAB increased the rate of fermentation, and all inoculated silages underwent a more efficient ensiling process than control silage. Only silages made with P. shermanii had measurable levels of propionic acid in the 90-day silages. Corn silages made with P. shermanii were more stable when exposed to air than control or LAB-inoculated silages.

Agronomic and silage quality traits of winter cereals

Agronomic and silage quality traits were examined for 12 winter ce reals harvested at two stages of maturity. Forage dry matter (DM) yields were higher at the mid-dough than the early-heading stage. Post 90 barley had the highest whole-plant DM yield at the earlyheading stage, and Presto triticale had the highest yield at the mid-dough stage. Newton wheat had the lowest whole-plant DM yield at both stages of maturity. The first cutting of all varieties originally was intended to be at the late-boot stage, but harvest was delayed by frequent rainfall and wet soils in May, and fieldwilting conditions were less than ideal. The range in heads emerge d was 23 to 87%, and the range in the silage DM content at early-heading stage was 19.2 to 46.4%. Both crude protein (CP) and ash contents were higher for the earlyheading cereals than the mid-dough. All 24 silages were of relatively low forage quality, as evidenced by high neutral det ergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) percentages. Only five silages, the early-heading stage Tomahawk wheat; mid-dough stage Presto triticale; and the mid-dough stage Kanby, Post, and Post 90 barleys, had less than 60% NDF and 40% ADF. Extensive lodging occurred in virtually all cereals before the mid-dough stage harvest.

Improving silage quality

Results at Kansas State University from over 200 laboratory-scale trials and 28 farmscale trials showed that bacterial inoculants consistently improved preservation efficiency and nutritive value of the ensiled material. In contrast, anhydrous ammonia or urea adversely affected dry matter recovery and production per ton of crop ensiled. Economic analysis also favored the use of bacterial inoculants over nonproteinnitrogen additives. Research conducted using corn, sorghum, and alfalfa silages showed that sealing the exposed surface dramatically reduced top spoilage losses in bunker, trench, or stack silos.; Dairy Day, 1995, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 1995;

Economics of sealing horizontal silos

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Agronomic and silage quality traits of forage sorghum cultivars in 1995

Agronomi c and silage quality traits were measure d for 37 forage sorghum cultivars and three grain sorghum hybrids. The 1995 growing season was characterized by above average rainfall in the spring and early summer, and a hard freeze on September 22. At the time of the freeze, 20 cultivars had reached the earlymilk to early-dough stage, 12 were in the bloom stage, and the remaining eight were still in the earlyto late-boot stage . The late planting date and low plant populations resulted in below-normal whole-plant D M and grain yields. Plant heights for the grain sorghums were near normal, but the forage sorghums were well below expected plant heights. The preensiled, whole-plan t DM contents of the 37 forage sorghums ranged from 23.0 to 39.9%. As expected , the silage nutritive value traits of CP, NDF, and ADF were most favorable for the three grain sor ghum hybrids and least favorable for the eight forag e sorghum hybrids that were still in the boot stage when the freeze occurred.

Wheat middlings in high concentratefinishing rations: cattle performance

One hundred tw enty 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 replacemen t 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 concentrat e without reducing cattle performance, but complete (100%) or partial (50%) replacemen t of the roughage with WM had no adverse effect on cattle performance.

Effects of processing whole-plant corn silage on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in feedlot cattle

Sixty crossbred heifers and 12 crossbred steers were used to evaluate the effects of mechanically processing (crushing the kernels of) whole-plant corn silage on feedlot perforTrial 1. Sixty mixed breed, crossbred mance and nutrient digestibility. The three heifers (avg wt, 591 lb) were used in a comtreatments were: preensiled processed, pletely randomized designed, 80-day growth postensiled processed, and nonprocessed trial. Three whole-plant corn silage treatcorn silages. Heifers fed the processed corn ments were compared: preensiled processed silages grew faster and were more efficient (PRE), postensiled processed (POST), and than those fed nonprocessed silage. Steers nonprocessed (control). The heifers were consuming the two processed silage rations allocated randomly to one of 15 pens (four had numerically higher DM, OM, NDF, and head per pen), and the treatments were asADF digestibilities and significantly higher signed randomly to blocks of three pens. Dry starch digestibilities than those fed the nonmatter intake, ADG, and feed efficiency were processed silage ration. These data suggest measured. The heifers were weighed individthat processing whole-plant corn silage ually on 2 consecutive days (February 19 and before or after ensiling has a positive effect 20, 1997), and the average was used as the on both rate and efficiency of gain and nutriinitial weight. Final weights were obtained in ent utilization, particularly when the kernels the same manner on May 9 and 10, 1997. approach the black layer stage of maturity. Each ration contained 90% of the appropriate

Wheat middlings in high concentrate rations: digestibility and ruminal metabolism

Six medium-framed steers, fitted with ruminal cannulae were used in a 6 x 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.

Top spoilage losses for corn and foragesorghum silages stored in bunker silos

Corn and forage sorghum silages were stored in small bunker silos for 180 days. Dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) losses, fermentation characteristics , in-situ DM digestibility, and temperatures were measured at 10, 20, and 30 inches from the original silage surface. Sealing the exposed surface increased DM and OM recoveries and improved fermentation quality and nutritive value in both crops, regardless of depth. The unsealed corn silages were much hotter within the top 3 ft than sealed silages, indicating aerobic losses. As expected , the unsealed silages from both crops deteriorated severely i n the top 20 inches. Placing a roof over the unsealed silos increased the silage DM content at all three depths, but did not consistently improve the storage efficiency or silage quality of either crop.

Agronomic traits and growing cattle performance for whole-plant corn and forage and grain sorghum silages

Agronomic and cattle performance traits were measured for the following silages produced in 1992: irrigated Pioneer 3377 corn, ensiled with or without Biotal® silage inoculant; DeKalb 42Y grain sorghum; and Cargill 200F, Pioneer 947, DeKalb FS-5 and FS-25E, and Northrup King (NK) 300 forage sorghums. All sorghums were grown under dryland conditions. The irrigated corn had the highest whole-plant dry matter (DM) and grain yields, and NK 300 and DeKalb FS-5 had the highest whole-plant DM yields among the sorghums. NK 300 also had the highest grain yield among the sorghums; DeKalb FS-5 and FS-25E had the lowest. Steers fed the irrigated corn silages had the fastest and most efficient gains, and the late-season forage sorghum, DeKalb FS-25E, produced the slowest and least efficient gains. Inoculating the corn silage increased DM recovery, fermentation efficiency, and steer gain per ton of crop ensiled.