• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.823-829
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• 2003

Four different types of silage from new cultivars of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), cv. NG 1 and NG 2, were fed to eight wethers in order to evaluate their preference and intake by sheep. The silages were prepared from direct-cut NG 1 herbage; pre-wilted NG 1 herbage; NG 1 herbage with maize meal (5% inclusion) and NG 2 herbage with maize meal (5% inclusion). All silages were palatable to sheep. Maize-treated silage had high quality fermentation, characterized by high Fleig scores and low pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ammoniacal nitrogen contents. The pH, Fleig score, in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOMD) and ammoniacal-N contents for maize-treated cv. NG 1 silage were 3.7, 78, $540g\;kg^{-1}$ dry matter (DM ) and $0.18g\;kg^{-1}$ DM whereas, in maize-treated cv. NG 2 they were 3.6, 59, $^458g\;kg{-1}$ DM and $0.18g\;kg^-1$ DM, respectively. The superior quality of maize-treated silages made them more preferable to sheep. Among the maize-fortified silages, palatability and intake were significantly (p<0.001) greater with cv. NG 1. Although direct-cut silage had better fermentation quality compared to wilted silage, wilted silage was significantly (p<0.001) more preferable to sheep. However, there were no significant differences (p<0.05) in the levels of preference and intake of wilted silage compared to maize-treated cv. NG 2 silage, even though the latter tended to be more palatable. There were indications that high pH (4.6 vs 3.5) and IVDOMD content (476 vs $457g\;kg^{-1}%$ DM) of wilted silage contributed to higher intake, compared to direct-cut silage. It was generally concluded that pre-wilting and treatment of Napier grass with maize meal at ensiling enhances intake and palatability.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.636-640
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• 2000

Cup-plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) has potential to produce high biomass and highly digestible forage in the wetlands where other productive forages do not grow or produce well. However, high moisture content at harvest is a considerable disadvantage of cup-plant for the production of high quality silage. This study was conducted to determine the effect of moisture content on the characteristics of cup-plant silage. Harvested cup-plant was ensiled in farm scale plastic bag silos and laboratory silos. In the plastic bag silos, first growth (FG) and regrowth (RG) cup-plant was harvested, wilted and ensiled. Dry matter content of FG and RG was 280 g/kg and 320 g/kg after 48 hr of wilting. The silage made with FG had pH 5.3 and 5.63 g/kg DM of acetate as a major volatile fatty acid. The composition of lactate, butyrate and acetate production was 1.0: 0.9: 2.3. The pH of silage made with RG was 4.5 and lactate was a major fermentation end product (16.8 g/kg DM). In the laboratory silos, wilted and unwilted first growth cup-plant material was ensiled to compare the early fermentation end products at days 2, 4, 11, and 40. Wilting increased dry matter content by 42% in the harvested material. Wilted silage showed about one unit lower pH until day 11. The contents of ammonia nitrogen and acetate were higher in un wilted silage, while that of lactate was higher in wilted silage (p<0.05). Butyrate and propionate were not detected in the wilted silage until day 40. We conclude from the results that moisture control is essential for the production of high quality cup-plant silage and high pH of cup-plant silage is due to low concentrations of fermentation end products.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1747-1755
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• 2018

Objective: Common reed (Phragmites communis Trin.) could potentially provide an alternative resource for silage; however, its silage quality is poor. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors in reed that contribute to poor quality and determine how the use of additives at ensiling could improve fermentation quality. Methods: In Experiment 1, we determined the chemical composition and the presence of indigenous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in reed. We further examined fermentation quality of reed silage under conditions without additives (NA) and treated glucose (G), lactic acid bacteria (L), and their combination (G+L). In Experiment 2, silage of NA, and with an addition of cellulase and lactic acid bacteria (CL) were prepared from harvested reed. The harvested reeds were fertilized at nitrogen concentrations of 0, 4, 8, and $12g\;N/m^2$ and were harvested thrice within one year. Results: The indigenous LAB and fermentable carbohydrates are at extremely low concentrations in reed. Reed silage, to which we added G+L, provided the highest quality silage among treatments in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, N fertilization had no negative effect on silage quality of reed. The harvest times decreased fermentable carbohydrate content in reed. The CL treatment provided a higher lactic acid content compared to the NA treatment. However, the quality of CL treated silage at the second and third harvests was significantly lower than at the first harvest, due to a reduction in carbohydrates caused by frequent harvesting. Conclusion: The causes of poor quality in reed silage are its lack of indigenous LAB and fermentable carbohydrates and its high moisture content. In addition, reed managed by frequent harvesting reduces carbohydrate content. Although the silage quality could be improved by adding CL, higher-quality silage could be prepared by adding fermentable carbohydrates, such as glucose (rather than adding cellulases).

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.169-174
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• 1988

An experiment was conducted to determine the feeding value of Arundinella hirat silage making by different methods ie., added starch 3%, formic acid 1% (FA), anhydrous ammonia ($NH_3$) 3%, and dried poultry waste (DPW) 3%. The samples were analyzed organic acid, cell wall constituent (NDF), cell contents (NDS), lignincutin-silica (ADL), hemicellulose (H: CHO) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (DMD) by pepsin-cellulase technique. The feeding value of silages were compared with corn siiage. The results are summarized as follows; 1.Formic acid treated to silage was lower pH(4.0), but anhydrous ammonia (8.37) and DPW added silage (8.72) were higher than that of the other treatment silages. 2.Fermentative quality of corn silage, starch, DPW, $NH_3$, control and FA treated silage were marked 100,81, 77,63,62 and 58, respectively. 3.Silage with $NH_3$, (23.57%) and DPW (10.42%) of content of protein were higher than that of other treated silages. 4.Silage with $NH_3$, was significantly lower contents of NDF, but did not ADF of among the treated silages. 5.In the contents of ADL, starch added silage was significantly decreased (p < 0.05), but did not the other treatment. 6.DMD of in vitro by pepsin-cellulase of silage with starch was increased three folds as equal to corn silage but did not increased the other treated silages. 7.Correlationship of latic acid an total acid, and NDS were a positive but lactic acid and NDF was a negative correlation.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.156-161
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• 1986

Silage productivity and resistance to rice black streaked dwarf virus (RSDV) of six Korean-improved and six US introduced corn genotypes were tested in the southern part of Korea. There was a negative correlation between culm length retarded by RBSDV and coefficients of variance of culm length. Frequency distribution of culm length could be classified as three genotypic groups according to the type of distribution and percentage of RBSDV diseased plants. There were negative correlations between percent RBSDV diseased plants at harvest and culm length, percent ear bearing plants, silage yield, or ear yield, but percent RBSDV diseased plants did not related to the ear/silage ratio and stover yield. Silage yield of Pioneer XCF38 was highest, but that of Suweon 89 and NC 6131 was lowest. However, there was not signi-ficant difference in silage yield among the remaining genotypes. Pioneer XCF38, Suweon 89, and Jinjuok were quite resistant to RBSDV, but Suweon 19, Kwangok, Hoengseongok, Jecheonok, and Pioneer 3424 were susceptible and NC 6131 was most susceptible to RBSDV. Although Jinjuok and Suweon 89 were resistant to RBSDV, silage yield was not high because of early senescence of leaves after silkillg.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.289-292
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• 2003

A series of three separate experiments was contucted to investigate the effect of working time quality and animal palatability of barley whole crop silage by trench and round bale in paddy field of Central and Northern region from 1999 to 2001. Dry matter yield of trench and round bale silage was 12,562 and 12,555 MT per ha, respectively. Quality and animal palatability of silage by trench was slightly higher than those by round bale. Work time of trench silage and bale silage per ha were 4.9 and 5.7 time. Silage making areas by trench and round bale were 4 and 3ha per day, respectively, The results demonstrated that silage making by round bale was good for production cost over 7 working days.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.483-493
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• 1996

Advances in silage technology, including precision chop forage harvesters, improved silos, polyethylene sheeting, shear cutting silo unloaders, and the introduction of total mixed rations, have made silage the principal method of forage preservation. A better understanding of the biochemistry and microbiology of the four phases of the ensiling process has also led to the development of numerous silage additives. Although acids and acid salts still are used to ensile low-DM forages in wet climates, bacterial inoculants have become the most widely used silage additives in the past decade. Commercial inoculants can assure a rapid and efficient fermentation phase; however, in the future, these products also must contribute to other areas of silage management, including the inhibition of enterobacteria, clostridia, and yeasts and molds. Nonprotein nitrogen additives have the problems of handling, application, and reduced preservation efficiency, which have limited their wide spread use. Aerobic deterioration in the feedout phase continues to be a serious problem, especially in high-DM silages. The introduction of competitive strains of propionic acid-producing bacteria, which could assure aerobically stable silages, would improve most commercial additives. New technologies are needed that would allow the farmer to assess the chemical and microbial status of the silage crop on a given day and then use the appropriate additive(s).

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.207-211
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• 2015

The objective of the study was to measure the beneficial effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculation on the nutritive value of oat silage collected from thirteen regions in the Republic of Korea. The contents of crude protein, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and crude ash (CA) were slightly lower in LAB inoculated silage when compared with the control silage, whereas inoculation of LAB resulted in increased total digestible nutrient (TDN). Higher number of LAB, but lower count of yeast and fungi indicated the effectiveness of the LAB inoculation on oat silage fermentation. LAB inoculation resulted in low pH silage, which may prevent undesirable microbial growth. The LAB inoculation promoted lactic acid dominant fermentation with marginal levels of acetic acid and butyric acid in oat silage. These data suggest that the LAB inoculation may preserve oat silage at better quality for ruminant animal production.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1997

In order to utilize fish by-products from the skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) canning manufactures Lactobacillus buigaricus KCTC 3188 and L. piantarum KCTC 1048 were used as a starter culture for the preparation of fermented fish silage with skipjark tuna viscera. The optimum temperature and pH on barterial growth and lactic acid production of L. bulgaricus and L. plantarum in MRS broth were $35^{\circ}C$ and around pH 6.0, respectively. And the optimum concentrations of the carbohydrate sources added to the broths were $7\%$ for dextrose and $10\%$ for molasses on the basis of total weights of skipjack tuna viscera. The pH of acid treated skipjack tuna viscera silage (ASS) slightly increased from 4.0 to 4.5, while that of fermented skipjack tuna viscera silages by the use of lactic acid bacterias (FSS) was significantly declined from 5.9 to about 40 after 42 days of storage at $35^{\circ}C$. Though the content of volatile basie nitrogen (VBN) in ASS was lower than those of FSS after 42 days of storage at $35^{\circ}C$, VBN content in silages slightly increased from an initial value of $62\~65{\cdot}mg/100g$ to final value of $113\~155\;mg/100g$ over 42 days. The fermented silage by L. piantarum reached a maximum concentration of amino nitrogen and showed $81\%$ of hydrolysis degree after 4 days of storage at $35^{\circ}C$.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.373-377
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• 2007

Alfalfa silage and corn silage are the major dairy feeds in most dairy operations in Michigan, USA. In recent years, the need to improve digestible fiber and dry matter intake of forages to meet the nutrient requirements of high yielding dairy cows and the willingness to plant corn specifically for silage has led plant breeders to focus on the brown mid-rib (BMR) trait. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different ratio of alfalfa to BMR corn silage and ration level of forage neutral detergent fiber (NDF) on animal performance of lactating cows in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This study was conducted at the Upper Peninsula Experiment Station of Michigan State University in Chatham, Michigan, USA. Two different ratios of forage type (high alfalfa silage/low BMR corn silage, AS, and high BMR corn silage/low alfalfa silage, BMRCS) and two different dietary NDF contents (27% NDF, 27 = low forage/high grain feeding, and 33% NDF, 33 = high forage/low grain feeding) were used. The experimental design was a $4{\times}4$ Latin Square with 20 milking cows (12 multiparous and 8 primiparous). This trial had four 21-day periods with 14 d adaptation and 7 d data collection. Milk yield and body condition score (BCS) on the AS-27, BMRCS-27 and BMRCS-33 treatments were significantly (p<0.05) higher than on the AS-33 treatment. Dry matter intake of the AS-27 and BMRCS-27 treatments was significantly (p<0.05) higher than for the AS-33 and BMRCS-33 treatments. Milk urea nitrogen (MUN) on the AS-33 treatment was significantly (p<0.05) higher than on the other diet treatments. A key finding of this study was that the BMRCS-33 (higher amounts of brown mid-rib corn silage than alfalfa silage, high forage and low grain feeding diet at 33% NDF) led to the equal highest milk production whilst having the equal lowest dry matter intake. This study demonstrated that the diet with higher ratio of highly digestible NDF forage such as brown mid-rib corn silage to alfalfa silage could lower grain feeding in the ration.