this study was conducted to evaluate consumption inputs, production costs, nutrient composition and performance in production of alfalfa hay and alfalfa silage. therefore, data on alfalfa hay production were collected from 75 farms in zanjan province, using a face to face questionnaire in the year 2012. a systematic random sampling method was used. then, two farms managed by silage harvesting s...

Understanding the roles that various microbes play in silage fermentation and the factors that affect their growth can help us understand why silages ferment in various ways. In many, but not all cases, the fermentation that a crop undergoes can be explained by how microbes interact with factors such as moisture content, buffering capacity, and sugar content. However, management factors such as...

Whole-plant corn was harvested at 33 (normal) and 41% (moderately high) dry matter (DM) and ensiled in quadruplicate 20-L laboratory silos to investigate the effects of Lactobacillus buchneri 40788 (LB) or L. plantarum MTD-1 (LP) alone, or in combination, on the fermentation and aerobic stability of the resulting silage. Aerobic stability was defined as the amount of time after exposure to air ...

Starch particle size characteristics of 81 diverse corn silage samples, which included 27 combinations of hybrid, planting dates, and harvest dates subjected to 3 different degrees of kernel processing, were determined via vertical shaking through 9 screens with nominal square apertures of 19.0, 13.2, 9.5, 6.7, 4.75, 3.35, 2.36, 1.18, and 0.6 mm and a pan. Starch content of dry matter remaining...

Many factors affect the silage fermentation process. For example, the DM content and buffering capacity of the crop to be ensiled, the amount of fermentable sugar available at ensiling and the type and numbers of microorganisms that dominate the fermentation process can markedly affect fermentation. However, Woolford (1990) stated that “the single most important factor which influences the effi...

Beet pulp contains high amounts of pectins that can reduce the risk of rumen disorders compared to using feedstuffs high in starch. The objective was to study the effects of inclusion of ensiled pressed beet pulp in total mixed rations (TMR) for high-yielding dairy cows. Two TMR containing no or about 20% (on dry matter (DM) basis) beet pulp silage were used. The beet pulp silage mainly replace...

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of corn silage particle size and fat supplements on performance, solid passage rate through the digestive tract, and chewing behavior in dairy cows. The forages were coarse or fine corn silage with geometric means of 8.8±2.7 and 5.6±2.8 mm, and alfalfa with geometrics means of 7.0±3.3 mm, and fat supplements were neutral fat (palm) and soy-o...

This experiment evaluated different strategies for allocating first-cut grass silages to dry dairy cows that had low body-condition score (BCS) at drying off. A total of 48 moderately yielding Holstein-Friesian cows were used, receiving one of three dietary treatments in the dry period and a single lactation diet based on a flat-rate of concentrates and grass silage ad libitum. Throughout the d...

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of applying a bacterial inoculant with enzymes to D. eriantha on the fermentation dynamics during ensiling, the aerobic stability, intake and digestibility of the silage. The grass was ensiled, with or without the addition of a lactic acid bacterial inoculant at 10colony forming units per gram of fresh material, in Cryovac barrier bags. The inoc...

We investigated the effects of the predominant lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the fermentation characteristics and aerobic stability of total mixed ration (TMR) silage containing soybean curd residue (SC-TMR silage). The SC-TMR materials were ensiled in laboratory silos for 14 or 56 days. LAB predominant in SC-TMR silage were identified (Exp. 1). Lactobacillus fermentum (L. fermentum) and Strept...