The quality of farm-scale alfalfa silages

Abstract

Received: 2015-11-03   |   Accepted: 2016-01-29   |   Available online: 2016-05-30

dx.doi.org/10.15414/afz.2016.19.02.54-58

The aim of the work was to determine the nutritive and fermentation quality of farm-scale alfalfa silages from West part of Slovakia, analyzed in 2014 on the Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra. In alfalfa silages, we found the average dry mater content 372.66 g.kg^-1, while 30 % of samples had lower dry mater content than 350 g.kg^-1. Only 15 % of samples had higher content of crude protein than 200 g. We don't found content of ADF lower than 300 g.kg^-1 of DM in any sample. In alfalfa silages was higher content of NDF than 37.5 % in 70 % of alfalfa silages. The lactic acid content was higher than 10 g of the original mater in all samples except one, ranged from 0.73 to 14.67 % on a dry matter basis. Average content of acetic acid was 29.82 g.kg^-1 of DM. Undesirable butyric acid was found in 35 % of samples with average content 8.44 g.kg^-1 of DM, with maximal content 108.25 g.kg^-1 of DM.

Keywords: alfalfa, silage, nutritive value, fermentation, quality

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