Abstract Northern Ireland dairy farmers (n = 174) were surveyed to identify key silage-making practices, and factors perceived influence the quality of grass silage made on their farms. The majority (65%) harvested for three times/year: 62% normally used a contractor, while 47% routinely additive. Delays mowing delays harvesting due adverse weather or poor ground conditions have large very impa...

Sunn hemp (SH, Crotalaria juncea, L.) is a tropical multiple-purpose legume. The green manure SH (GMSH) crop might display protein ecology in sustaining ruminants; however, its silage features remain unclear. To efficiently prepare GMSH silage, additive treatments consisting of control (no additive, CON), molasses (MO), Acremonium cellulase (AC), and Lactobacillus casei TH14 strain inoculant (T...

The wilting process is required for the preparation of traditional low-moisture silage, which not only subject to interference rainfall during harvest season in many areas, but also increases labor, economic, and time costs. Therefore, this experiment, newly harvested alfalfa was supplemented with a complex additive consisting lactic acid bacteria (LAB), sucrose, corn flour, then ensiled direct...

The effects of three preslaughter diets on heifer beef quality were investigated. Heifers (n = 45) were divided into three groups and fed for ad libitum consumption either maize silage, grass silage, or a 50:50 mixture of maize silage and grass silage. Meat quality was determined by measuring color, lipid oxidation, alpha-tocopherol levels, and fatty acid composition. Beef from the maize silage...

To better understand the mechanism underlying water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC)-regulated silage fermentation, bacterial community and fermentation quality of stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis) ensiled without (sterile distilled water) (CK) or with 10 g/kg sucrose (S), glucose (G), molasses (M) were investigated. Each treatment was in three plastic bag silos for 30 days. The DM 301.0 (fresh matter...

On 3 consecutive cuttings, alfalfa from a single field was mowed with a John Deere 946 mower-conditioner (4-m cut width; Moline, IL) to leave narrow swaths (NS) ranging from 1.2 to 1.52 m wide (30-37% of cutter bar width) and wide swaths (WS) ranging from 2.44 to 2.74 m wide (62-67% of cutter bar width). Samples were collected from windrows and dry matter (DM) was monitored during wilting until...