Operational research study of forage conservation systems for cool, humid upland climates. Part 1: Description of model

McGechan, M.B.

doi:10.1016/s0021-8634(05)80144-1

Cited by 22 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Dry matter losses during outside storage of hay averaged 153 g kg −1 in Trial 1 and 179 g kg −1 in Trial 2, somewhat less than losses previously reported by Belyea et al (1985) for alfalfa hay packaged in round bales stored outside. Dry matter losses for round bale silage were generally low but highly variable, averaging 63 ± 64 g kg −1 in Trial 1 and 31 ± 47 g kg −1 in Trial 2 and confirm the advantage of silage over outside‐stored hay for preserving crop DM in humid environments (McGechan, 1990). Treatment effects were absent for silage DM losses.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 52%

Forage Preservation Method Influences Alfalfa Nutritive Value and Feeding Characteristics

Hancock

Collins²

2006

Crop Science

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Forage preserved as baled silage can reduce dry matter and quality losses compared with hay systems if sufficient stretch wrap is layered to adequately exclude oxygen. The objectives of this study were to determine the optimum film amount for alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) preserved as round bale silage and to compare the forage quality and losses to that of dry hay. Two field trials compared alfalfa silages wrapped in two, four, or six layers of plastic film and hay controls. Bales wrapped with four or six layers had significantly lower temperatures than two layer treatments. In Trial 1 (July harvest), silage with two layers had higher post‐storage neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and acid detergent lignin (ADL) concentrations than did silage prepared with either four or six layers. No consistent differences in forage quality parameters were observed among silage treatments in Trial 2 (September harvest). After 5 mo, concentrations of ADF, NDF, and ADL in the silages with four or six layers of film were lower than hay in both trials; however, crude protein (CP) did not differ across preservation treatments. In a preference trial, cows (Bos taurus) offered all treatments from Trial 2 preferred silages preserved with four or six layers of film to the two‐layer treatment and hay control. We conclude that more than two layers of film are needed for consistent preservation of alfalfa round bale silage. The results demonstrated the potential advantage in quality for alfalfa baled silage compared with conventionally harvested and stored hay.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 52%

Forage Preservation Method Influences Alfalfa Nutritive Value and Feeding Characteristics

Hancock

Collins²

2006

Crop Science

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“…No comparison was made between mats and conditioned windrows. I'revious studies have shown drying rate ratios of about 1-40-1-60 between conditioned windrows and unconditioned thin-layer windrows (Klinner, 1975); more recent data suggest that the ratio of drying rates between conditioned and unconditioned grass windrows in high-yield field conditions is only I -20 (McGechan, 1990b). This suggests that the potential of mat making represents a considerable improvement over current forage conditioning systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drying and physical characteristics of matted ryegrass

Savoie¹,

Lr²,

Ac³

et al. 1994

Grass and Forage Science

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Fresh ryegrass and lucerne were macerated and compressed into thin mats over a 4‐week period at two yield levels. The mats were left lo dry outside during the day. and inside overnight, and compared with unconditioned crops. Under a low swath yield of 4 t DM ha−1, mats required 0·7‐1·4 mm pan evaporation lo reach 70% moisture, suitable for wilted silage, compared with 1·8‐3·8 mm pan evaporation for unconditioned crops. On an average non‐rainy day. mats were ready to harvest as wilted silage after 2–5 h, whereas the unconditioned crop required between 6 h and 36 h of wilting. With a high swath yield of 8 t DM ha−1, mats required 1·4‐3·0 mm pan evaporation to reach 70% moisture compared with 2·4‐5·1 mm for unconditioned windrows. Low‐yield mats reached 20% moisture, suitable for hay, in 2 d of drying, after 4·5‐5·3 mm of pan evaporation. The thickness and cohesion of the mats were measured to assess their sensitivity to mechanical handling. The effect of controlled rainfall on mats was also investigated. Since mat making was most effective in low‐yield crops, it could become a useful complement to low‐input, extensive forage production. Mat making could eliminate most silage effluent losses; it could re introduce haymaking of ryegrass as a viable system under certain circumstances.

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“…While the relationship assumed by Parke et al (Figure 1) is a rough approximation to that observed in experiments, the value ofthe break-point and the slope of each ofthe two straight lines can only be regarded as arbitrary on the basis of overall loss data. Further development of this type of OR forage conservation model is now being undertaken at the Scottish Centre of Agricultural Engineering (SCAE) (McGechan. 1986;1988a), in parallel with an experimental programme to specify more accurately some of the model relationships (Lamond et ai, 1988) including those representing crop losses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Susceptibility to losses during mechanical silage and haymaking operations in relation to grass dry matter content

McGechan¹

1988

Grass and Forage Science

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A series of laboratory experiments is described to investigate the susceptibility of grass forage to losses during mechanical field conservation operations in relation to dry matter content. Losses were measured during a simulated manual 'tedding' treatment carried out on grass .samples being dried on a laboratory thin-layer drying rig. Values of loss per successive treatment remained at a near constant low level at low dry matter (DM) contents, except for a somewhat higher loss level from the first treatment. As DM content rose above about 60%, the level of loss per treatment rose rapidly with increase in DM content. A relationship between loss per treatmeni and DM content was derived from the data by a bilinear regression analysis, and this will be incorporated into an Operational Research model of forage conservation systems.

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Operational research study of forage conservation systems for cool, humid upland climates. Part 1: Description of model

Cited by 22 publications

References 25 publications

Forage Preservation Method Influences Alfalfa Nutritive Value and Feeding Characteristics

Forage Preservation Method Influences Alfalfa Nutritive Value and Feeding Characteristics

Drying and physical characteristics of matted ryegrass

Susceptibility to losses during mechanical silage and haymaking operations in relation to grass dry matter content

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