Theme 21: Forage Conservation
Description
A two-year field trial was performed on ley near Uppsala, Sweden, with the following treatments (3 plots/treatment): A, no manure or fertiliser; B, manure applied in Oct.; C, manure applied in Oct. followed by rolling plots in May; D, manure applied in May; E, mineral fertiliser only. Apart from cattle manure, plots allocated to treatments B, C and D received the same amount of mineral nutrients as treatment E. The objective of this experiment was to get an indication of how different times of manure application (before or after the growth period) affected forage yields and the quality of the resulting silage. Annual forage yields (2 cuts/year) did not differ significantly in either year among treatments that received manure. Only the unfertilised control treatment (A) had a significantly lower yield. No differences were found between treatments that received only mineral fertilisers (E) or mineral fertilisers and manure (B, C and D). The 1998 ensiling experiment resulted in a very low overall silage quality, indicated by excessive formation of ammonia and very high counts of Clostridium spores (> 106 cfu/g silage). In 1999, the best silage, with the lowest counts of Clostridium spores (< 50 cfu/g), was produced from plots, which received manure in Oct. and were rolled in May (C). The same treatment without rolling in May (B) resulted in silage with a significantly higher pH, more butyric acid, and more Clostridium spores (> 105 cfu/g). Other silage from manured plots, particularly that made from unchopped forage, also had high counts of Clostridium spores.
Included in
Effect of Application of Farmyard Manure to Ley on Forage Yield and Quality of Grass Silage
A two-year field trial was performed on ley near Uppsala, Sweden, with the following treatments (3 plots/treatment): A, no manure or fertiliser; B, manure applied in Oct.; C, manure applied in Oct. followed by rolling plots in May; D, manure applied in May; E, mineral fertiliser only. Apart from cattle manure, plots allocated to treatments B, C and D received the same amount of mineral nutrients as treatment E. The objective of this experiment was to get an indication of how different times of manure application (before or after the growth period) affected forage yields and the quality of the resulting silage. Annual forage yields (2 cuts/year) did not differ significantly in either year among treatments that received manure. Only the unfertilised control treatment (A) had a significantly lower yield. No differences were found between treatments that received only mineral fertilisers (E) or mineral fertilisers and manure (B, C and D). The 1998 ensiling experiment resulted in a very low overall silage quality, indicated by excessive formation of ammonia and very high counts of Clostridium spores (> 106 cfu/g silage). In 1999, the best silage, with the lowest counts of Clostridium spores (< 50 cfu/g), was produced from plots, which received manure in Oct. and were rolled in May (C). The same treatment without rolling in May (B) resulted in silage with a significantly higher pH, more butyric acid, and more Clostridium spores (> 105 cfu/g). Other silage from manured plots, particularly that made from unchopped forage, also had high counts of Clostridium spores.
