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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2001. PAGE A-5.
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Many factors must be considered to obtain quality forage
The perfect menu
Good quality forage, which is important for the health and
well-being of livestock, is impacted by many factors.
Dairy producers realize the impor-
tance of good quality forage for the
health and well-being of the animals,
but consideration should be given to
all the factors which impact that
quality.
"High quality forage is a must as
its relative feed value is greater that
that for legumes or grass," said Dr.
Michael Hutjens, dairy extension
specialist from the University of
Illinois. "Corn silage is Illinois'
cheapest forage and can reduce feed
costs by 25 cents to 50 cents per cow
per day."
He said forages are what give
dairy farmers in Ontario, Illinois,
Wisconsin and Iowa the competitive
edge over producers in other areas.
"Animals must be provided with
fibre and nutrients for proper rumen
function. Do you have the right for-
age for the cows to use properly'?"
he asked.
Hutjens said there are many
aspects to consider in making it a
successful food source.
"There must be sufficient fer-
mentable carbohydrates to make the
silage .‘erment properly," he said.
"Lactic acid bacteria must be present
to dry the fermentation process and
there must be anaerobic conditions
so the oxygen is gotten rid of quick-
ly."
The type of storage facility factors
into the success of silage fermenta-
tion and the cost effectiveness.
Components such as capital input,
life expectancy of the storage unit
and equipment and the annual costs
to maintain and operate. Within the
realm of annual costs, producers
should look at labour, plastic pur-
chases, fuel and dry matter losses.
percentage," he said.
Losses are also affected by the
cover on the storage unit. These
include a roof, sawdust, soil, lime-
stone, plastic or none. "There can be
34 per cent loss with no coverage or
just II per cent when plastic is used
(in a bunker situation)," he added.
The result of forage degradation
can be seen when a "black gunk"
forms on top, ranging from three to
12 inches in depth. This must be dis-
posed of, said Hutjens as it can cause
damage to the cows.
Quality loss is also seen in the
effluent running from an open stor-
age facility.
Gas losses can be huge when there
is little coverage of the forage.
An important factor in reducing
loss with bunker storage, said
Hutjens is the efficiency and effec-
tiveness of the filling. "They must be
packed well."
Listing seven different ways to
store forages, Hutjens said there are
real differences between initial out-
lay and annual costs for each system.
Though he noted there are
economies of scale for the price of
producing and storing forage, those
benefits cease beyond 1,000 tonnes
annually.
Herd size would also be a deter-
mining factor in the type of storage
method used. For less than 100 head,
Hutjens recommended tower silos,
bags or wrap. Once the number
exceeds 200, he suggested bags,
bunkers or packed piles. Between
these, producers can use towers bags •
or narrow bunkers.
The bunker structure he referred to
would be approximately 10 feet high
so that a four to six-inch depth would
be taken off the entire width in one
day.
Though Hutjens does not like
bunkers for haylage, corn silage is
fine. He suggests bagging for hay-
lage as there is tremendous invento-
ry control.
If forage is removed from the field
in a wetter condition, it lowers field
loss, he said, though he warned that
if too wet, it can result in poor fer-
mentation.
While the harvest window for
alfalfa grass is only about three days,
Hutjens said corn.silage removal can
stretch over two weeks.
It was recommended that the pH
level in the silage should be moni-
tored regularly. If the silage can get
to a low pH level quickly, it keeps
the acetic acid low. For best corn
silage quality, Hutjens looks for
acetate levels greater than three, lac-
tic acid at greater than 70 per cent of
the total and a pH of 3.8 to 4.2..
He also suggests inoculating the
silage as it increases dry matter
recovery by three per cent and makes
it two per cent more digestible.
"One dollar of input (for an inocu-
lant) can get $3 in value out," he
said. Taking the calculation further, a
dry matter recovery of 1.3 per cent
will result in more cows days of feed
per tonne of silage, thereby increas-
ing the milk output per tonne. This
can increase the net value to approx-
imately $7 for a $1 input. That trans-
lates to $26.80 per cow per year, said
Hutjens.
In reference to losses due to parti-
cle size, Hutjens said, nutrients are
not doing much good if food value,
such as starch from corn, is found in
the manure.
A particle box should be used to
test proportions of the 3/4 inch, 3/10
inch and fines, he said.
As proportions of the total mixed
rations, the top box (greater than 3/4)
should be between five and 15 per
cent. The midrange should constitute
greater than 40 per cent and the
smallest, no more than 50 per cent.
For haylage, the numbers should
be approximately 20-40-40.
"If there is too much in the top
box, the cows will sort it out," said
Hutjens..
For corn silage the ratios pan be
less than five, 30 to 50 per cent and
50-70 per cent. If a kernel processor
is used it would be 10 to 20 per cent,
50-70 per cent and less than 30 per
cent.
"This is what really makes corn
silage work as you get the most out
of the top two boxes. what ends up in
the bottom box is not effective."
In discussing particle size, Hutjens
said high moisture corn does not go
fine enough as more than 30 per cent
stays coarse. The feed should be
complimented with "pig feed" size
corn.
When looking at the overall feed-
ing program, Hutjens stresses that
"the forage quality and quantity must
be in balance."
Depending on the storage struc-
ture, dry matter losses can escalate
from a low of three per cent to a high
of almost 25 per cent, depending on
climatic conditions and efficiency of
facility use.
Bunker storage can range from 13
to 25 per cent losses while steel tow-
ers have the lowest loss rate.
"The cost effectiveness of any sys-
tem is impacted greatly by the loss