Effect of stage of growth and silage additives on whole crop cereal silage nutritive and fermentation characteristics

Abstract

The efficient production and subsequent utilisation of home-grown forage is seen as the cornerstone of profitability of the dairy industry as it leads to lower unit costs of milk production compared with purchased forage or grain supplements. Cereals such as wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), oats (Avena sativa L.) and triticale (Triticum Triticosecale) all have the potential to produce high forage dry matter (DM) yields. These forages are not widely grown within dryland Australian dairy systems and there is a paucity of information on both the agronomic requirements and subsequent ensiling and feed-out management under these conditions. The experiment reported in this paper examines the DM yield..