Publication Date
1989
Description
The conservation of grass as silage rather than hay has become increasingly popular in Northern Europe. The increase in silage making has been associated with the increased intensification of animal production and improvements in our knowledge of the fermentation process. Despite the ability to produce grass silages with consistently high metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) contents it has been calculated that on UK dairy farms silage barely meets the maintenance requirement of the cow (Phipps, 1986). The objective of the work reported here is to devise methods to increase the contribution of silage in the diet of the cow. In the first series of experiments silages were fed as a sole feed to dairy cows, and in the second series the use of strategic supplements to overcome nutritional limitations in silage was examined.
Citation
Thomas, C and Reeve, A, "Increasing the Contribution of Grass Silage for Milk Production" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 22.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session8/22
Included in
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Increasing the Contribution of Grass Silage for Milk Production
The conservation of grass as silage rather than hay has become increasingly popular in Northern Europe. The increase in silage making has been associated with the increased intensification of animal production and improvements in our knowledge of the fermentation process. Despite the ability to produce grass silages with consistently high metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) contents it has been calculated that on UK dairy farms silage barely meets the maintenance requirement of the cow (Phipps, 1986). The objective of the work reported here is to devise methods to increase the contribution of silage in the diet of the cow. In the first series of experiments silages were fed as a sole feed to dairy cows, and in the second series the use of strategic supplements to overcome nutritional limitations in silage was examined.
