• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.526-532
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition, in vitro DM degradability, ME and OMD of alfalfa-maize silage mixtures in comparison to pure maize and alfalfa silages, and to test the existence of associative effects of ensiling alfalfa forage with whole-crop maize using the in vitro gas production technique. Ensiling alfalfa with whole-crop maize had a significant (p<0.001) effect on chemical composition, pH, in vitro DM degradability, OMD and estimated ME values of mixtures. DM content of the resultant silages significantly increased with increasing proportion of whole-crop maize in the mixtures, whereas the pH value, crude protein (CP), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and ash contents of mixtures decreased due to the dilution effect of whole-crop maize which was low in CP, ADF and ash. The pH values of all alfalfa-maize silage mixtures were at the desired level for quality silage. Gas production of alfalfa-maize silage mixtures at all incubation times except 12 h increased with increasing proportion of whole-crop maize. When alfalfa was mixed with whole-crop maize in the ratio 40:60, ME and OMD values were significantly (p<0.001) higher than other silages. Maximum gas production ($A_{gas}$) ranged from 65.7 to 78.1 with alfalfa silage showing the lowest maximum gas production. The results obtained in this study clearly showed that maximum gas production increased with increased percentage of whole-crop maize in the silage mixtures (r = 0.940, p<0.001). It was concluded that ensiling alfalfa with whole-crop maize improved the pH, OMD and ME values. However, trials with animals are required to see how these differences in silage mixtures affect animal performance.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 1995

A simple conservation technique baled silage making of selected froage materials was discussed in Suwon and in Muan county during 1991 - 1992. Eleven species of forage crops and pasture grasses(maize. sorghum, pearl millet, barnyardgrass, rye, barley, spring oat, Italian ryegrass, orchardgrass, alfalfa and grass-legume pasture mixtures) were harvested at different growth stage from young plant to maturity and baled in a self constructed square baling chamber, and wrapped in a 0.05mm thick polyethylene plastic film. Each bales measured by 90cm long, 60cm wide and 50cm height and weighted between 15~20kg in dry matter basis. physio-molphologcal characteristics of the plants, leaf weight ratio(LWR), leaf area ratio(LAR), stalk ratio (SR), stalk hardness(SH) and other growth parameters, were analysed and were used as a parameter to evaluate the suitability of materials for baling. Italian ryegrass including orchardgrass, alfalfa and pasture mixtures produced high quality baled silage. Silage quality point(F1ieg-point) of Italian ryegrass was improved from 63 point in crushed custom silage to 75 piont in baled silage. Meterial of grass-legume pasture mixtures showed 55 point in crushed silage and 67 point in baled silage. Fodder rye, barley, spring oat and barnyardgrass were also evaluated as a good materials for baled silage making. On the other hand, meize including sorghum and peral millet were evaluated as a not suitable materals for baling due to its high value of SR and SH. Quality of maize was excellent with 88 point in clushed silage and medium with 47 point in baled silage making.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1271-1282
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of either maize or sulla silage supplementation to grazing dairy cows in summer. Forage mixtures used in the four week trial were based on previous experimental results but inclusion of rumen fistulated cows in five treatments enabled rumen sampling and use of in sacco incubations to determine the diet effects on digestion kinetics. Sulla and maize silages were used to supplement pasture and to meet minimum requirements for dietary protein concentration. Five groups of ten cows were grazed on a restricted daily allowance of 18 kg dry matter (DM) pasture/cow to simulate a summer pasture deficit, and four of these five groups received an additional 6 kg DM $cow^{-1}d^{-1}$ of silage (sulla, maize, or sulla and maize silages). A sixth group was given a relatively unrestricted (38 kg DM $cow^{-1}d^{-1}$) pasture allowance. The silage mixtures and pasture were incubated in sacco during the final week of the trial. The pasture was of high nutritive value and not typical of usual summer conditions, which favoured a response to quantity rather than quality of silage supplements. There was no difference in cow performance with the four silage supplements and the low milk solids (MS) production (about 1.0 kg $MS\;d^{-1}$) relative to full pasture (1.3 kg $MS\;d^{-1}$) showed the principal limitation to performance was dry matter intake. Milk composition was not affected by silage type and the low level of pasture substitution (0.29) suggested metabolizable energy (ME) was the principal limitation to performance. Samples of rumen liquor and in sacco data demonstrated significant effects of supplement; DM degradation rates (k) was highest ($0.084h^{-1}$) when cows were fed 6 kg sulla silage whereas diets with a high proportion of maize silage were slowly degraded (p<0.01).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.473-478
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• 2004

Processing and storage of the silage from agricultural by-products were studied in two experiments. The first experiment was conducted to investigate the chemical composition and degradability of various silages with varying ensiling times. The experiment was a 5$\times$3 factorial design, completely randomized, with factor A as the different formulated mixtures by varying level of urea addition (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%) and factor B as the time of ensiling. Chemical composition changed little with time and varied only slightly with levels of urea in the mixtures. Dry matter (DM) degradability increased with increasing cassava levels while crude protein degradability and pH level increased with increasing urea addition. By using 'Flieg point', which relates to organic acid yields, there were no significant difference among ensiled mixtures and times of ensiling. Therefore it can be concluded that the 5th silage formulation is the most appropriate since its DM and crude protein (CP) degradability were highest. The second experiment was carried out to determine the quality of the 5th silage mixtures (from the previous trial) after being stored for up to 6 months. The experiment was a complete randomized design with samples taken at monthly intervals up to 6 months and subjected to laboratory and degradability analyses. The results showed no significant (p>0.05) difference in chemical composition except for increased neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber percentage in association with increasing storage time. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in 'Flieg point' among times of storage. In conclusion, this experiment showed that the silage from agricultural by-products can be stored for more than 6 months.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1243-1248
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• 2011

The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of vegetable wastes as silage for ruminants. Varying amounts of wheat straw (WS), wheat bran (WB) and salt (S) were combined with minced vegetable wastes (VW) during ensilage. Seven different ingredient combinations were investigated viz: 100% VW (Group I, control), 90% VW+9% WS+1% S (Group II), 80% VW+15% WS+4% WB+1% S (Group III), 70% VW+20% WS+9% WB+1% S (Group IV), 90% VW+9% WB+1% S (Group V), 80% VW+15% WB+4% WS+1% S (Group VI) and 70% VW+20% WB+9% WS+1% S (Group VII). The inclusion of straw and bran increased (p<0.01) the DM content of silage. The highest contents of the pure silage were CP (p<0.001), EE (p<0.01) and NFE (p<0.05). NDF contents of VW silage and group V were significantly lower and especially the VW silage was found to have the lowest ADL content (p<0.01). The in vitro ME values of VW silage and bran added silage were higher than other groups (p<0.01). pH, lactic acid and acetic acid values of silage groups were changed between 4.09-4.20, 2.43-3.46% and 0.60-0.86%, respectively. In conclusion, different mixtures of VW have a high ensilage capacity and can serve as an alternative roughage source for ruminants. The addition of 9% bran significantly improved the silage in view of both dry matter content and nutritive value.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.87-92
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• 1996

The quality of silages, made from whole crop barley, rye, spring oat, Italian ryeglass, orchardgrass, alfalfa and grass-legume pasture mixtures, were evaluated under two different conservation techniques in baled silage making (BS) and conventional silages(CS). Crops materials were harvested at the stage of the greatest dry matter accumulation(hard dough for barley, soft dough for rye and oat, late bloom for Italian ryegrass and others pasture species), and baled in a self constructed square baling chamber weighted by 25~30kg in dry matter basis. Each bales were wrapped with 0.05mm thick polyethylen plastic film and stored six months long in stack silos. Barley, rye, oat and Italian ryegrass including of pasture crops produced higher quality silages in the baled silage making, due to better organic acid fermentation and lower nutrient losses during the period of storage than those in the conventional silages. TDN contents of barley silages were 65.3% in BS and 63.7% in CS, NEL value of barley silages was improved hum 6.48MJ(CS) to 6.61MJ/kg(BS) in dry matter basis. Silage quality of rye, oat and pasture crops were also improved markedly in the baled silage utilization.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.836-842
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• 2009

The objectives of this study were to evaluate potential benefits of intercropping of corn with runner bean for a smallsized farming system, based on land equivalent ratio (LER) and silage yield and quality of corn intercropped with runner bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), in arid conditions of Turkey under an irrigation system. This experiment was established as a split-plot design in a randomized complete block, with three replications and carried out over two (consecutive) years in 2006 and 2007. Seven different mixtures (runner bean, B and silage corn sole crop, C, 10% B+90% C, 20% B+80% C, 30% B+70% C, 40% B+60%C, and 50% B+50%C) of silage corn-runner bean were intercropped. All of the mixtures were grown under irrigation. The corn-runner bean fields were planted in the second week of May and harvested in the first week of September in both years. Green beans were harvested three times each year and green bean yields were recorded each time. After the 3rd harvest of green bean, residues of bean and corn together were randomly harvested from a 1 $m^{2}$ area by hand using a clipper when the bean started to dry and corn was at the dough stage. Green mass yields of each plot were recorded. Silages were prepared from each plot (triplicate) in 1 L mini-silos. After 60 d ensiling, subsamples were taken from this material for determination of dry matter (DM), pH, organic acids, chemical composition, and in vitro DM digestibility of silages. The LER index was also calculated to evaluate intercrop efficiencies with respect to sole crops. Average pH, acetic, propionic and butyric acid concentrations were similar but lactic acid and ammonia-N levels were significantly different (p<0.05) among different mixtures of bean intercropped with corn. Ammonia-N levels linearly increased from 0.90% to 2.218 as the percentage of bean increased in the mixtures up to a 50:50 seeding ratio. While average CP content increased linearly from 6.47 to 12.45%, and average NDF and ADF contents decreased linearly from 56.17 to 44.88 and from 34.92 to 33.51%, respectively, (p<0.05) as the percentage of bean increased in the mixtures up to a 50:50 seeding ratio, but DM and OM contents did not differ among different mixtures of bean intercropped with corn (p>0.05). In vitro OM digestibility values differed significantly among bean-corn mixture silages (p<0.05). Fresh bean, herbage DM, IVOMD, ME yields, and LER index were significantly influenced by percentage of bean in the mixtures (p<0.01). As the percentage of bean increased in the mixtures up to a 50:50 seeding ratio, yields of fresh bean (from 0 to 24,380 kg/ha) and CP (from 1,258.0 to 1,563.0 kg/ha) and LER values (from 1.0 to 1.775) linearly increased, but yields of herbage DM (from 19,670 to 12,550 kg/ha), IVOMD (from 12,790 to 8,020 kg/ha) and ME (46,230 to 29,000 Mcal/ha) yields decreased (p<0.05). In conclusion, all of the bean-corn mixtures provided a good silage and better CP concentrations. Even though forage yields decreased, the LER index linearly increased as the percentage of bean increased in the mixture up to a 50:50 seeding ratio, which indicates a greater utilization of land. Therefore, a 50:50 seeding ratio seemed to be best for optimal utilization of land in this study and to provide greater financial stability for labor-intensive, small farmers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.1063-1067
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• 2000

The effects of acremonium cellulase (AC) additive and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculant on effluent production and aerobic stability of silage were investigated. Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum) was treated with AC at the rates of 0.05 ($AC_1$) and 0.1 g/kg $(AC_2)$ and/or with LAB at the rate of $1.0{\times}10^8cfu/kg$ fresh grass at ensiling. The treatments of LAB, $AC_1$, $AC_2$, $LAB+AC_1$ and $LAB+AC_2$ significantly (p<0.01) decreased pH and contents of volatile basic nitrogen and butyric acid, and significantly (p<0.01) increased lactic acid content compared with the control. All treated silages were well preserved with pH of lower than 4.2. There were no significant differences in fermentation quality between the application rates of AC ($AC_1$ and $AC_2$) and between the mixtures ($AC_1+LAB$ and $AC_2+LAB$). AC ($AC_1$ and $AC_2$) and AC plus LAB ($AC_1+LAB$ and $AC_2+LAB$) resulted in more silage effluent than the control and LAB inoculant alone. When the experimental silos were opened, the silages treated with AC and/or LAB were not as stable as the control silage, as shown by pH increase and lactic acid decomposition.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.533-540
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• 2006

In this study, the possibility of green tea waste (GTW) as a new ingredient of byproducts-mixed silage was investigated. Characteristics of GTW were low in dry matter (DM) content (20%), and high in crude protein (30 to 36%) and tannins (8.5%). The GTW was added to mixed silages composed of tofu cake, rice straw and rice bran that are locally available in Japan. In experiment 1, the effect of GTW addition to silage made from various patterns of byproducts mixture based on tofu cake was studied. In experiment 2, the effect of GTW addition and storage temperature on fermentation characteristics, nutrient contents and in vitro ruminal gas production of byproducts-mixed silages were examined. In experiment 1, GTW addition on tofu cake accelerated acetic, propionic and butyric acid accumulation in the silage. When rice straw was mixed with tofu cake, DM content was increased from 47 to 56%, lactic acid was the main acid and the pH was decreased below 4.2. In this case, GTW addition to those mixtures did not affect acid concentrations of the silage. In experiment 2, GTW addition to the byproducts mixture increased lactic acid concentration, decreased the pH and DM loss of the silages. In GTW treatments, tannin concentration was lower in the silage stored at $30^{\circ}C$ than $15^{\circ}C$. Addition of GTW into the silage also increased in vitro ruminal gas production. It was concluded that addition of GTW into byproducts-mixed silage enhanced lactic acid fermentation when there were insufficient materials for lactic acid production. Utilization of GTW as an ingredient in mixed silages would be effective in enhancing fermentation characteristics, lowering tannin content and in vitro ruminal gas production.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.127-131
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• 2019

The effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) mixtures on low moisture Italian ryegrass (IRG) silage fermentation was evaluated in field conditions. The experiment was categorized into two groups: Un-inoculated (Control) and Inoculated with LAB mixture for four storage periods (45, 90, 180, and 365 days, respectively). Silage inoculated with the LAB mixture had the lowest pH with highest lactic acid production than the control from beginning at 45-365 days at all moistures. Higher LAB counts were observed in inoculated silages than the control silages at whole experimental periods. It is a key reason for the rapid acidification and higher lactic acid production in silages during the storage periods. Overall results suggest that an adding of LAB mixture had positive effects on the increasing aerobic stability of silage and preserved its quality for an extended duration.