The effect of technological factors on quality of big bale silage
1998
Laettemae, M. | Tamm, U. | Sarand, R.-J.
Bale silage usually is made of unchopped or long cut grass. Long cut herbage may be difficult to ensile, because of delay in fermentation process and material heterogeneity. Long herbage reduces the density of silage and it is also difficult to distribute and mix additive in such material. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of baler type, number of layers of plastic film and use of additive on quality of big bale silage. The silage crop consisted of about 50 per cent red clover and 50 per cent of grasses. Red clover mixture was harvested by a mower conditioner and wilted for 1.0 and 1.5 days in the field. The results indicated that the quality of silage was considerably better when 'Orkel' baler was used compared to 'Claas'. Because of restricted chopping, the fermentation conditions were obviously improved and therefore also silage quality. The number of plastic film did not affect significantly silage quality. However, the quality of silage was unsatisfactory when additive no used. Application of NIBEN considerably increased silage quality by reducing the concentration of butyric acid and number of clostridium spores. It is concluded that the use of additive is indispensable at difficult fermentation conditions such as big bale silage. The silage quality may also be influenced by using different type of balers
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