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The effect of cutting height at harvest on the aerobic stability and digestibility of fermented whole crop wheat silage offered to sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

R. G. Wilkinson  and
L. A. Sinclair
R. G. Wilkinson
Affiliation:
ASRC, School of Agriculture, Harper Adams University College, Edgmond, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UK
L. A. Sinclair
Affiliation:
ASRC, School of Agriculture, Harper Adams University College, Edgmond, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UK
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Extract

Previous work with fermented whole crop wheat (WCW) silage has focussed on the effects of stage of maturity on nutritive value and milk production (Sinclair and Wilkinson 1998). An alternative means of manipulating nutritive value may be to alter the relative proportions of grain to straw by changing the cutting height at harvest. The objectives of the current experiment were to determine the effects of two cutting heights on the aerobic stability and whole tract digestibility of fermented WCW silage offered to sheep.

Winter wheat (variety Hunter) was grown as a conventional crop and harvested at a dry matter (DM) content of 450 g/kg and a Zadock growth stage of approximately 85 (soft dough). The crop was cut to leave a stubble length of either 17.9 cm (long straw, LS) or 38.2 cm (short straw, SS) prior to ensiling in separate ag-bags.

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Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1999 , 1999 , pp. 71
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1999

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References

Agriculture and Food Research Council. (1993). Energy and Protein Requirements of Ruminants. An advisory manual prepared by the AFRC Technical Committee on Responses to Nutrients. CAB, Wallingford, UK.Google Scholar
Sinclair, L.A. and Wilkinson, R.G. (1998). Effects of stage of maturity of fermented whole crop wheat on milk production by dairy cows. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the British Society of Animal Science, 145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar