Silage preparation and fodder preservation methods.

 

Silage is a product where any green plant material is kept in a place where it can ferment in the absence of air that contains 40-45% of water. Silage is a green succulent. When the green fodders are plentiful, it is preserved as silage for farm animals.

The process of conserving green fodder is called ensilage. Green silage is a palatable and nutritious type with a Dry matter of 25-35%.

During this process, the fermentation of sugar forms acids and it breaks down some of the forage proteins into simpler compounds, including ammonia.

 

Crops:

Crops that are rich in soluble sugar is suitable for ensiling. Ex: Maize, natural grass, sogam 3-3.5% of molasses is added.

Stage of harvesting:

Crops should be harvested between the flowering and milk stages (50%).

Silo:

Silo is an air tied structure designed to store and preserve high-moisture fodder as silage. When it comes to pit silos, pits are dug 2.4 to 3cm in depth and space is required for 400 kg of fodder. In this farm silo barrels were used.

Preparation:

The crop selected has 30-35% of dry matter. Always fodder is chopped by a mechanical chopper into small pieces. Chopped fodder should be evenly distributed in the barrel. The top of the silo is covered with long paddy straw or poor-quality grass and the barrel is sealed well.

0.5% salt, 1% urea are added to improve the palatability and nitrogen content. It the silo barrels, the temperature rises to about 27 to 38 degrees of Celsius. Then the fermentation starts and converts green crops into silage. 2-month time is taken to prepare silage.

Fermentation [process:

As it mentioned, the fermentation process can occur in two ways, lactic acid fermentation and butyric acid fermentation.

When fodder contains 65% to 75% moisture and enough sugar, anaerobic lactic acid bacteria become active, to produce a good clean- smelling silage of high quality (pH 4).

If forage is too rich in proteinaceous substances, butyric acid fermentation will dominate. Butyric acid has a sharp, disagreeable smell and such silage is not relished by animals.

Store the plant material at a moisture content of 65%-75% excluding air to minimize loss of nutrients due to respiration, to initiate the growth of lactic acid bacteria rapidly, prevent mold formation, to prevent the development of aerobic organisms.

Color:

Yellow or brownish green and sometimes even golden in color is identified at last. Silage becomes dark brown or black when the temperature of the silo is high.

Quality:

Good quality silage has an acidic tast and smell. pH in 3.5 – 4.2 range which is free from butyric acid, and mold. It should contain 1-2% lactic acid and ammoniacal nitrogen less than 10% of total nitrogen.

Advantages:

·         Crops can be ensiled when the weather does not permit curing them into hay or dry fodder;

·         Use of silage generally makes it possible to keep more animals on a given land area;

·         Silage furnishes high-quality succulent feed for any season of the year at a low expense

·         Satisfactory silage can be produced from weed crops that would make poor hay. The ensiling process kills many kinds of weed seeds

·         Crop from a larger area can be stored in less space as silage than as dry fodder.