1. Dry‐matter losses and changes in nutrient concentrations in grass and maize silages stored in bunker silos
- Author
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Johannes Ostertag, Christof Kluß, Friedhelm Taube, Brigitte Köhler, Hubert Spiekers, and Stefan Thurner
- Subjects
Chemistry ,Silage ,Phosphorus ,0402 animal and dairy science ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Forage ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law ,Proximate ,040201 dairy & animal science ,Nitrogen ,Nutrient ,Animal science ,040103 agronomy & agriculture ,0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries ,Dry matter ,Agronomy and Crop Science ,Dairy farming - Abstract
To reduce losses and improve forage use efficiency in dairy farming systems, mass and nutrient flows during silage production have to be measured from the field to feed bunk. However, data on these losses at the farm scale are scarce. Thus, we examined dry‐matter (DM) losses and changes in nutrient concentrations (proximate constituents, nitrogen [N], phosphorus [P]) and energy values (net energy for lactation [NEL]) of silages on three experimental farms from ensiling to feed‐out. The investigated material included forages from permanent grassland and whole‐crop maize that were stored in 64 side‐walled bunker silos. To determine DM losses, the total‐in versus total‐out method was applied. Additionally, the changes in the nutrient concentrations were measured by comparing the concentrations before and after ensiling. Data analyses were carried out by using ANOVA, and the means across groups were compared via multiple contrast tests. On average, the farms had good silage production management. Average values showed a trend towards higher DM losses during the ensiling process with grass (9%) than maize (7%). The N and P concentrations of the silages remained mainly unchanged during the ensiling process, suggesting that the total losses of N and P were also low (
- Published
- 2019
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