Somayeh Moeinizadeh; Ali Akbar Khadem; Ali Assadi-Alamouti; Ahmad Afzalzadeh
Volume 15, Issue 1 , July 2014, , Pages 31-43
Abstract
The objectives were to investigate the effects of addition of alfalfa hay as an absorbent on fermentationquality and effluent production of corn silage. Three levels of corn forage with dry matter (DM) contentsof 18.3, 21.7 and 25.5 percent were supplemented with 0, 5, 10, and 20 percent alfalfa hay, ...
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The objectives were to investigate the effects of addition of alfalfa hay as an absorbent on fermentationquality and effluent production of corn silage. Three levels of corn forage with dry matter (DM) contentsof 18.3, 21.7 and 25.5 percent were supplemented with 0, 5, 10, and 20 percent alfalfa hay, on as fedbasis, and ensiled in three replicates in polyvinyl chloride mini-silos in a completely randomized design.Concentrations of ash and total nitrogen increased and that of neutral detergent fiber decreasedsignificantly as the level of absorbent increased (P< 0.05). Increasing the level of absorbent significantlyincreased the DM of silage where the higher levels of DM were observed in silages with 10 and 20percent absorbent. The pH values were within the optimum range of corn silage (ranging from 3.79 to4.33); however, silage pH was affected by the interaction between DM and level of absorbent (P<0.05).The pH increased as the level of absorbent increased, however, the effect was less observed in silageswith 26 percent DM. Also, there was an interaction between the DM and absorbent in the concentration ofresidual water-soluble carbohydrate of silage where the differences in water-soluble carbohydrates insilages with 18 percent initial DM were lower than those in silages with 22 and 26 percent DM. As thelevel of absorbent increased, aerobic stability was improved with the effects becoming less pronounced asthe level of DM increased. Effluent production was markedly reduced as the level of absorbent increasedso that it dropped to 0 ml at 20 percent alfalfa hay addition at all DM levels (P<0.05). The concentrationsof DM and nitrogen were higher in effluent produced from silages treated with higher level of absorbent;however, total DM and nitrogen losses were lower due to considerably lower effluent production. Resultsshowed that using a minimum of 10 percent alfalfa hay could effectively reduce effluent production andimprove aerobic stability of corn silage while maintaining its optimal pH.