Bromatological evaluation of eleven corn cultivars harvested at two cutting heights

Abstract

-The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and dry matter in vitro digestibility of stem, leaf, straw, cob and kernel fractions of eleven corn (Zea mays) cultivars, harvested at two cutting heights. The experiment was designed as randomized blocks, with three replicates, in a 2 × 11 factorial arrangement (eleven cultivars and two cutting heights). The corn cultivars evaluated were D 766, D 657, D 1000, P 3021, P 3041, C 805, C 333, AG 5011, FOR 01, CO 9621 and BR 205, harvested at a low cutting height (5 cm above ground) and a high cutting height (5 cm below the first ear insertion). Cutting height influenced the dry matter content of the stem fraction, which was lower (23.95%) in plants harvested at the low, than in plants harvested at the high cutting height (26.28%). The kernel fraction had the highest dry matter in vitro digestibility (85.13%), while cultivars did not differ between each other. Cob and straw were the fractions with the highest level of neutral detergent fiber (80.74 and 79.77%, respectively) and the lowest level of crude protein (3.84% and 3.69%, respectively). The leaf fraction had the highest crude protein content, both for plants of low and high cuttings (15.55% and 16.20%, respectively). The increase in the plant cutting height enhanced the dry matter content and dry matter in vitro digestibility of stem fraction, but did not affect the DM content of the leaf fraction.

Produção E Composição Bromatológica Da Silagem De Híbridos De Milho Sob Duas Alturas De Corte

“…O aumento na altura de corte pode melhorar os teores de energia e diminuir a concentração da FDN na silagem, pois, de acordo com Neumann et al (2007), a parte basal do colmo apresenta maior concentração de FDN, havendo, assim, alteração na fração fibrosa da silagem. Ao aumentar a altura de corte no momento da ensilagem, há aumento da participação dos grãos na silagem, o que promove ganhos no valor nutricional (Caetano et al, 2012).…”

Production and quality of corn silage with forage and pigeon peas in a crop-livestock system

“…The cutting height of 0.40 m above ground level of corn plants for ensilage provided greater participation of the grain fraction because of the lower proportion of stalk and senescent leaves in the ensiled mass, improving the nutritional value of the silage in relation to lower cutting heights (Caetano et al, 2012). Additionally, the higher cutting height in SIPA benefits the regrowth of grass after harvesting corn for silage (Pariz et al, 2017).…”

Effect of raising the cutting height in corn on performance and carcass traits of lambs

“…In addition to the increase in the participation of grains, the increase in the cutting height of the plant improves its nutritional value (11) , reducing the concentrations of cellulose, lignin, NDF and ADF (6)(7)(8)(9)(10) , promoting a positive increase in values of TDN and non-fiber carbohydrates (12)(13) . Oliveira et al (5) found an increase of 6.7% in the concentration of TDN when the cutting height was increased from 15 to 55 centimeters, providing a food with higher energy value.…”