Two experiments evaluated feeding soybean hulls (SBH) in finishing diets that contain distillers grains plus solubles on performance and carcass characteristics. Dietary concentrations of SBH were 0, 12.5, 25, and 37.5% of diet DM. In Exp. 1, 167 crossbred yearling steers (395 ± 22 kg of BW) were fed for 117 d in a randomized block design in which pelleted SBH replaced dry-rolled corn. All diet...

Sixteen Holstein cows in midlactation were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design to determine the effect of replacing alfalfa neutral detergent fiber (NDF), with NDF from a combination of whole linted cottonseed, dried distillers grains, and wheat middlings. The four diets were a basal control diet that was low in forage and fiber [(5.9 g of corn silage NDF and 6.1 g of alfalfa NDF/100 g of dry m...

Improving the productive performance of agricultural residue silage has practical relevance to sustaining livestock production. Sweet corn stover (SCS) and cassava pulp (CSVP) are widespread in tropics as low-cost feed resources. To efficiently prepare SCS CSVP silage, impact adding Acremonium cellulase (AC), Lactobacillus casei strain TH14 inoculant (TH14), their combination (AC+TH14) on ensil...

BACKGROUND Literature is lacking on the effects of feeding by-product feed (BF)-based silage on rumen fermentation parameters, nutrient digestion and nitrogen (N) retention in sheep. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of replacing rye straw with BF-based silage as a roughage source on ruminal parameters, total-tract apparent nutrient digestibility, and N balance in shee...

With high dry matter yields of high quality forage, high soluble carbohydrate levels and a suitability for harvest by cutting and removing, the forage legume sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) has the potential to be an important silage crop in New Zealand. In three experiments the ensiling potential of sulla was compared with conventional pasture using a mini-silo system which allows for rapid evalu...

Eight ruminally cannulated Holstein cows that were part of a larger lactation trial were blocked by days in milk and randomly assigned to replicated 4 x 4 Latin squares to quantify effects of nonprotein N (NPN) content of alfalfa silage (AS) and red clover silage (RCS) on omasal nutrient flows. Diets, fed as total mixed rations, contained 50% dry matter from control AS (CAS), ammonium tetraform...

Predicting animal performance and relating it to improvements in corn silage quality whether from breeding or management is complex. In numerous studies, differences in fiber and digestibility translate into differences in animal performance. For example, researchers in Idaho have found that high quality corn silage (low fiber and high digestibility) produced $315 more beef per acre than low qu...

Improving the aerobic stability of silages M ICRO-ORGANISMS involved in the ensiling process include beneficial bacteria (homolactic acid bacteria), detrimental bacteria (for example, clostridia) and unwanted yeasts and moulds. In a good silage pit (or bun), air is eliminated by respiration from the plant and packing, thus preventing the growth of detrimental aerobic microbes. When air is elimi...