EFFECT OF ENSILING WHOLE BARLEY-GRAIN WITH PASTURE ON SILAGE QUALITY AND EFFLUENT PRODUCTION, AND THE PERFORMANCE OF GROWING CATTLE

Abstract

Pasture was ensiled with increasing amounts of whole barley in stacks [0, 75 (SLB), 150 (SMB) kg/t fresh pasture] or in 200-L drum silos 10, 75 (DLB), 150 (DMB), 225 (DHB) kg/t fresh pasture]. All silages were well fermented with low pH values and low ammonia concentrations. The addition of barley significantly (P<0.05) increased the dry matter content of the resultant stack silages by 29% (SLB) and 54% (SMB) and significantly (P<0.05) increased residual water-soluble carbohydrate levels in the SMB silage compared with untreated stack silage. Incorporation of barley with pasture in 200-L silos significantly (P<0.001) increased the dry matter of the resultant silages and significantly (P<0.01..