Journal ArticleOpen Access
Chemical Composition, Ensiling Characteristics, and Apparent Digestibility of Summer Annual Forages in a Subtropical Double-Cropping System with Annual Ryegrass
Authors
Author Affiliations
University of Minnesota, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Southeast Healthcare, Southeast University
Published InJournal of Dairy Science
Year2001
Citations50
Abstract
A 2-yr study was conducted to determine the chemical composition and digestibility of silages made from forage sorghum, pearl millet, and tropical corn managed to optimize forage quality. Silages were ensiled in upright concrete silos lined with plastic and fed to heifers to determine in vivo apparent digestibility. Samples were collected before and after ensiling to determine ensiling characteristics and forage quality. After ensiling, tropical corn had the greatest dry matter (DM), the lowest crude protein, and the greatest water-soluble concentrations. Tropical corn silage had a pH of 3.96. The pH of forage sorghum silage was 4.09, and pearl millet had a pH of 4.50. Pearl millet had the lowest concentration of preensiled water-soluble carbohydrate, which likely caused the high…
View at Publisher
BORR does not host full-text PDFs. The button above takes you to the original publisher.