Maize for silage: I. Conservation of whole maize plant for silage with treatment of preservatives and urea before ensiling

Authors

• J. Setälä Department of Animal Husbandry, University of Helsinki, 00710 Helsinki 72
• J. Seppälä Department of Animal Husbandry, University of Helsinki, 00710 Helsinki 72
• S. Pulli Department of Plant Husbandry, University of Helsinki, 00710 Helsinki 72
• E. Poutiainen Department of Animal Husbandry, University of Helsinki, 00710 Helsinki 71

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.72002

Abstract

Maize was harvested with a precision chopper and ensiled in five plastic tower silos, 1 500 kg fodder/silo. The silages and the ensiling methods were: 0.5 % urea per fresh weight (A), 1.0 % urea per fresh weight + Viher-acid 4 1/1000 kg of silage (B), 0.5 % urea per fresh weight + Viher-acid 4 1/1000 kg of silage (C). Viher-acid 4 1/1000 kg of silage (D) and silage without urea or preservatives (E). The dry matter content of the whole maize was 21 % and the crude protein content was 10.8 % in DM. The addition of urea increased the crude protein (N x 6.25) content in A- and C-silages to 17.7 percent and in B-silage to 24.9 percent. The quality of the silages was good, and some marks of butyric acid was found only in the silage ensiled without Viher-acid or urea. The addition of Viher-acid lowered the fermentation rate so that the sugar content of the corresponding silages was higher. The sugar content was higher (P < 0.01) and the content of lactic acid lower (P < 0.001) in the silage ensiled only with Viher-acid. Urea increased the content of lactic acid and the content of acetic acid of the silages. In the silages ensiled with urea the use of Viher-acid tended to lower the fermentation rate. The use of urea increased the NH3-N (P < 0.05) and the soluble N contents (P < 0.001) in the silages. In spite of the low dry matter content of the silages some enrichment of the urea in the lower parts of the silos was only found in the silage ensiled with 1 % of urea (P > 0.05) and Viher-acid. This was due to the larger effluent amount from the silo. The fermentation losses of dry matter were smallest in the silage D (3.9 %) and highest in the silage E (11.6 %) (P < 0.05). The losses in A-, B- and C-silages were 7.6 %, 4.7 % and 9.2 %, respectively. The use of urea decreased the fermentation losses.