Abstract

The effect of maturity at harvest on the digestibility and intake of large bale silage made from whole-crop barley and wheat when fed to growing heifers was evaluated. Two crops of spring barley (Hordeum distichum cv. Filippa and Kinnan) and 1 of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. Olevin) were harvested at the heading, milk, and dough stages of maturity. The silage was fed to 36 dairy heifers in a balanced crossover experiment with 3 periods and 9 treatments (diets based on 3 crops and 3 stages of maturity), organized into 6 pairs of 3 x 3 Latin squares. No clear relationship was observed between intake and stage of maturity of whole-crop cereal silage, but intake was positively correlated to silage DM content (P < 0.001, r = 0.46) and negatively correlated to NDF content (P < 0.001, r = -0.42). Organic matter digestibility decreased between the heading and milk stages of maturity in all crops (P < 0.001), did not differ between the milk and the dough stages in the 2 barley crops, but increased in the wheat silage (P = 0.034). The NDF digestibility decreased between the heading and milk stages in all crops (P < 0.001), whereas it decreased in 1 barley crop (P < 0.001), increased in the other barley (P = 0.025), and was unchanged in the wheat between the milk and dough stages of maturity. Starch digestibility was less in the 2 barley crops compared with the wheat at the dough stage of maturity (P < 0.001). The feeding value of the whole-crop barley and wheat declined between the heading and milk stages of maturity, but thereafter the effect of maturity on the feeding value was minor.

Keywords

digestibility; intake; maturity; whole-crop cereal silage

Published in

Journal of Animal Science
2011, Volume: 89, number: 12, pages: 4134-4141
Publisher: AMER SOC ANIMAL SCIENCE

SLU Authors

• Rustas, Bengt-Ove

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bertilsson, Jan

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Martinsson, Kjell

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Nadeau, Elisabet

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science
Animal and Dairy Science
Veterinary Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2010-3585

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/58359