Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

1968

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Dairy Science

Abstract

The important of corn in dairy cattle feeding is generally acknowledged. A popular way of preserving the crop is to make corn silage, thus using the whole plant for feed and preserving maximum feed per acre. The increased utilization of corn silage by dairymen may be due to its high energy yields per acre, high acceptability by cattle, and ease with it is incorporated into automated systems of harvesting and feeding. The increasing importance of corn silage in the United State is evidenced by the increasing acreages harvested as corn silage. In 1950 there were 4,937,000 acres planted with a yield of 31,002,000 tons harvested as corn silage. In 1965 there were 8,035,000 across with a yield of 84,266,000 tons harvested (1). In South Dakota 56,691 acres of corn silage were planted in 1930 with a yield of 310,254 tons. In 1964 there were 952,883 acres harvested with a yield of 4,796,641 tons (41). With the large increase in corm yields in recent years, it appeared beneficial to examine some new techniques of handling and processing this crop. Because later harvest dates may be advantageous to work schedules and availability of silo storage space, this research was designed to investigate the effect of delaying harvest of corn silage beyond normal plant maturity in terms of changes in chemical composition with increasing plant maturity, field and nutrient losses, feeding value, and digestibility.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Silage

Description

Includes bibliographical references (pages 38-41)

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

47

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/

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Dairy Science Commons

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