Forage Conservation

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Forage Conservation
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Need for conservation

• Feeding during drought or floods
• Utilizing surplus forage
• Transport of feed

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Methods of Conservation

• Hay
• Silage
• Haylage

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Hay

• Grasses are cut at optimum growth stage
• Left in the field to dry
• Machine used to turn over grass to aid drying
  (tedder)
• Dried grass swept in rows (windrow)
• Hay baler used to compress dried grass cubes or
  big round bales
• Can also be used to conserve rice straw

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Big bale hay
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Padi straw hay
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Problems with making hay

• Need plenty of sunshine 3 consecutive days
  without rain
• Easily spoilt by moulds if not quickly dried
• Requires heavy investment in machinery
• Large storage area is required
• Can be a fire hazard

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Haylage

• Forage that is baled at a higher moisture content
  than dry hay and then stored in a sealed plastic
  wrap.
• Because of the high moisture level and air-tight
  environment, the forage ferments and is preserved
  by acid production during fermentation.

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Advantages of Haylage

• Decreased curing time needed from cutting to
  baling makes weather less of a factor in forage
  harvesting.
• Potential for more timely harvest of large
  quantities of forage.
• Decreased need for mechanical handling and time
  curing to dry the forage reduces the loss of
  leaves, the most digestible part of the plant.
• Potential for higher feed quality bale through
  leaf preservation and possible nitrate reduction.

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Disadvantages of haylage

• Increased harvest cost per bale vs. conventional
  cured hay.
• Disposal of used plastic wrap.
• More likely to spoil as compared to silage in
  traditional silos.
• Risk of forage spoilage if integrity of wrap is
  not maintained. Birds and rodents can puncture
  plastic and holes must be covered.
• Transportation of bales is limited due to cost of
  moving high-moisture bales.

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How haylage is made

• The forage is cut as if for haymaking, but is
  baled at 50 to 60 moisture rather than at 18-20
  moisture.

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SILAGE

• Forage that is conserved by reducing pH through
  natural anaerobic fermentation

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Advantages of silage

• More palatable than hay
• Not dependent on weather
• Can be kept longer without deterioration
• Not easily inflammable
• Requires less storage area

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Mechanised Silage Making
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Principle of Silage conservation

• Forages are conserved in an environment of low pH
  (4.2) and anaerobic conditions where biochemical
  processes and activities of decomposing aerobic
  bacteria and fungi are inhibited

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Materials which can be ensiled

• Grasses
• Sorghum
• Maize
• Oil palm fronds
• Crop byproducts (pineapple skin, cocoa pods)

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Factors required for good silage

• Airtight to provide anaerobic conditions
• Moisture content in forage 65-75
• Adequate soluble carbohydrates (gt3)
• Compaction of materials to exclude air
• Not contaminated with foreign matter e.g. soil

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Silage making process

• Grass is cut at optimum growth stage
• Grass chopped up

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Silage making process (2)

• Chopped grass filled in silo
• Bunker silo
• Pit silo
• Tower silo
• Container
• Chopped grass compressed to exclude air
• Silo is sealed airtight
• Left for at least 21 days to complete ensilation

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Tower Silo
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Phases of fermentation
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Baled silage
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Baled Silage in N.Z.
Baled silage
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Baled Silage
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The Silager

• An invention in Institut Haiwan Kluang
• Able to mechanically compress silage in a bin

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Mechanical press
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SILAGER II
collection
conveyor
Forage chopped
Entry for fresh fodder
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Phase I

• Grass is put in silo
• Respiration continues
• Oxygen is used up
• CO2 and heat is released
• Temperature rises

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Phase 2

• Acetic acid is released
• pH declines from 6.0 to 4.2

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Phase 3

• Lactic acid is released
• Acetic acid declines

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Phase 4

• Lactic acid production continues
• Temperature declines
• Bacterial activity stops at pH 4.0

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Characteristics of Good Silage

• pH lt 4.5
• Lactic acid 3 -13
• Butyric acid lt 0.2
• Colour yellowish to brownish green
• Odour sweet smelling (vinegar smell)
• Wetness no seepage
• Palatability readily accepted by animals
• Nutritive value almost similar to original
  material

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Additional steps for making good silage

• Chop the material to allow easy compaction
• Use additives corn, soybean, molasses to
  increase soluble carbohydrates and protein (esp.
  if lt 3 soluble carbohydrate)
• Use enzymes to aid fermentation

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Silage additives

• A. Stimulants aid in the growth of the lactic
  acid bacteria and the production of their acids
  so as to reduce silage pH at a faster rate.

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Silage additives

• B. Inhibitors help to slow down unwanted silage
  degradation. For example, inhibitors may reduce
  mold growth or reduce the breakdown of plant
  proteins.

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Silage additives

• Bacterial Inoculants are the main type of silage
  additive used in the U.S (about 70 of all
  additives). 
• They contain inactive bacteria that become active
  once they are put on the wet forage.

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Silage additives

• Sugars such as molasses, glucose, and dextrose
  can be added to forage to increase the lactic
  acid content of the silage by supplying more food
  (sugar) for the lactic acid bacteria to grow on.

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Silage additives

• Enzymes are proteins that speed up the break down
  of plant carbohydrates to sugars
• Common sources of enzymes include, Aspergillus
  oryzae, Aspergillus niger, and Bacillus
  subtillus.

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End Good Luck!