Associative effects of ensiling mixtures of sweet sorghum and alfalfa on nutritive value, fermentation and methane characteristics

Abstract

Combining sweet sorghum (SS) with alfalfa (AF) for ensiling has the potential to improve the nutritive value and fermentation characteristics of resultant silages. However, the optimal combination and the associative effects of SS and AF for ensilage have not been studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the fermentation characteristic and nutritive value of silage mixtures with six different SS to AF ratios. The two forages were ensiled in air free silos for 150 days at room temperature as mixtures containing 0:100, 20:80, 40:60, 60:40, 80:20, and 100:0 of SS:AF on a fresh weight basis. As the proportion of SS increased in silage, the content of ash, crude protein, saponin..