What is silage used for? Corn Silage vs Hay: What’s Better for Cattle?

 Fodder Conservation : Corn Silage and Hay

To achieve higher milk production from dairy animals, it is essential to provide them with a sufficient amount of nutritious and green fodder. Green fodder and grasses are produced in abundance due to favorable climatic conditions during certain months of the year. However, there is a significant shortage of green fodder during November-December and April-June. Therefore, to address the fodder shortage during these months, extra green fodder should be preserved.

Fodder conservation is done through the following two methods:

1. By Making Silage: Green or wet fodder is preserved by making silage, ensuring a supply of green fodder throughout the year. When green fodder, which contains adequate moisture, is packed into a pit in the absence of air, a fermentation process begins. After some time, this green fodder turns into a product similar to pickles, known as "silage."

2. By Making Hay: Hay is used to preserve dry fodder, ensuring a supply of dry fodder for animals throughout the year.

Preserving Green or Wet Fodder : 

What is a Hay ?

Hay is dried fodder prepared by drying it in sunlight. The purpose of making hay is to provide dry fodder to animals throughout the year. To make hay, the fodder is dried until its moisture content reduces from 70-80% to about 12-14%. This halts the enzymatic activity of plant cells and microorganisms, but the nutritional quality of the fodder remains unaffected.

Best Crops for Hay Making

The best crop for making hay is oats (Avena sativa). Hay is made from crops with more leaves and thin stems, allowing them to dry quickly in sunlight.

The following crops can be used for making hay:

• Barley
• Lucerne
• Berseem clover
• Cowpea / Chola
• Soybean
• Oats
• Sudan grass
• Napier, Elephant grass, or Uganda grass
• Guinea grass
• Anjan grass

Hay Making Process

Hay is made from crops with short stems and more leaves. The crops used for making hay are harvested in their flowering stage. It is essential to dry the fodder thoroughly to make hay. In India, green fodder is typically dried in sunlight to prepare hay. In North India, the best time for hay preparation is March-April when the sunlight is strong, and atmospheric moisture is low. This process is known as "hay curing."

Methods of Making Hay:

1. Drying in Layers: After cutting the fodder, it is left in the field to dry for one day. It is then bound into small heaps or bundles and spread across the field to dry in sunlight. During this process, the heaps are turned occasionally so that the moisture in the fodder gradually reduces to about 12-14%.

2. Drying on Tripods: In regions of India with high soil moisture or heavy rainfall, fodder is dried using tripods. The fodder is spread on the tripods to dry without direct contact with the ground, allowing it to dry well in air and sunlight. In some areas, grass is also dried on rooftops to make hay.

When hay is fully prepared, it is gathered into a dome-shaped heap. The heap is conical, which prevents rainwater from accumulating and helps maintain the nutritional quality of the fodder.

Types of Hay

• Leguminous Hay: Lucerne (Alfalfa /Medicago sativa), Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) , Cowpea / Chola, Soybean
• Non-Leguminous Hay: Barley, Oats, Sorghum, Sudan grass, Napier grass / Elephant grass / Uganda grass, Guinea grass, Anjan grass
• Mixed Hay: Barley + Ryegrass, Oats + Lucerne

The best hay is made from oats. Among non-leguminous crops, the best hay is also made from oats. Among leguminous crops, the best hay is made from Alfalfa / Medicago sativa / lucerne. Lucerne is known as the "queen of fodder," and Berseem is known as the "king of fodder."

Benefits of Hay

Hay is made in sunlight, which provides it with a rich amount of vitamin D. Hay contains vitamin D2 (Ergocalciferol).

Feeding sorghum in its green stage can lead to cyanide poisoning in animals, but making hay from sorghum reduces the risk of cyanide poisoning.

Drawbacks of Hay

• Drying green fodder in sunlight reduces its greenness and carotene (provitamin A) by up to 90%.

• Both hay and silage reduce the nutritional value of fodder. Raw fodder has higher nutritional value.

• If leguminous hay is made during the monsoon season, fermentation generates heat, which can cause the hay to burn and turn brown. This is known as "brown hay." 

• The brown color is due to the Maillard reaction, and hay made from crops with higher lysine amino acid content also turns brown, as lysine is more sensitive to the Maillard reaction.

Silage for Cows: Nutritional Benefits and Feeding Tips

What is a silage? 

Silage is the process of preserving green fodder, which contains sufficient moisture, through anaerobic fermentation in a pit over an extended period. The moisture content in silage ranges from 60 to 70%. When green fodder is packed into a pit in the absence of air, fermentation begins, and after some time, it transforms into a product similar to pickles, known as "silage." The purpose of making silage is to provide green fodder throughout the year, especially during times of green fodder shortage.

What is silage used for?

Silage is used to increase milk production in dairy animals by ensuring they have sufficient amounts of nutritious green fodder in their diet. However, during the months of November-December and April-June, there is a severe shortage of green fodder, which leads to a decrease in milk production. To address this shortage, silage is prepared.

Green fodder is compressed in a silo to make a type of pickle, which is called silage. Around 80-90% of the nutritional value of the green fodder is retained in silage, making it an excellent option for animals, especially during periods when green fodder is scarce.

Best Crop for Silage

Corn / Maize  is considered the most suitable crop for making silage and is often referred to as "corn silage" due to its origin. Corn is commonly known as "corn" in North America. Silage is made from crops with thick stems and fewer leaves, which helps retain moisture in the fodder and prevents it from drying out quickly. Besides corn, crops like sorghum, millet, and sudangrass are also suitable for silage due to their thick stems and fewer leaves, which help maintain moisture and keep the green fodder fresh and useful.

Silage crops are harvested when they are in the flowering stage or between the milk stage of the grains. The moisture content of the fodder for silage should be approximately 65% (60-70%) to ensure proper fermentation and maintain the quality of the silage.

Silage Making Process

The process of making silage is known as "ensiling." This technique involves preserving crops in an anaerobic condition so that they can be stored as a nutritious feed for a long time. The pit used for making silage is called a pit silo.

There are several types of silos, such as bunker silos, pit silos, trench silos, and tower silos. In India, the "pit silo" is primarily used. This silo is constructed as a circular or rectangular pit in the ground. A circular pit is generally preferred as it allows for better compaction of the fodder and facilitates the removal of air, which is necessary for good-quality silage.

Preparing Silage in a Pit

1. Harvesting the Crop: The corn crop is harvested, and the stalks are separated.

2. Filling the Pit: The harvested stalks are packed into the pit and compacted to remove all air.

3. Covering: After removing the air, the pit is sealed properly to prevent any air from entering. This creates an anaerobic environment where fermentation occurs, resulting in silage.

4. Opening: The pit is opened after about 2 months.

Silos Used for Silage

In India, the primary silo used for making silage is the "Pit Silo."

• Depth: 2.5-3 meters
• Capacity: A 1 cubic meter (M³) pit can produce approximately 400 kilograms of silage.
• Time: Silage takes about 2 months to prepare.

Requirements for Making Silage

• Moisture and Dry Matter: The moisture content in the crops should be 60-70%, and the dry matter should be 30-35%.
• Absence of Oxygen: The pit must be free from oxygen for making silage.
• Pit Temperature: The temperature inside the pit should be between 30-38°C.
• Carbohydrate-Rich Crops: Use carbohydrate-rich crops like corn, sorghum, and millet for making silage.

Types of Fermentation Based on Silage Preparation

• Lactic Acid Fermentation: When silage is made from crops with high carbohydrate content, it undergoes lactic acid fermentation. This type of silage has good quality and is typical for crops like corn, sorghum, and millet.

• Butyric Acid Fermentation: When silage is made from crops with high protein content, it undergoes butyric acid fermentation. This type of silage has poor quality and is typical for crops like ryegrass and lucerne.

Key Points

• Molasses Usage: For crops with low carbohydrate content, add 3-3.5% molasses.
• Ratio of Grass to Leguminous Crops: For silage made from grass and leguminous crops, the mixture should contain 75% grass and 25% leguminous crops (e.g., ryegrass, lucerne). (Grass: Leguminous Crop = 3:1)
• Nitrogen Content: To increase nitrogen content, add 1% urea (NPN).
• Salt for Flavor: Add 0.5% salt to enhance the flavor and speed up the preparation of silage.
• Silage Preservatives: To preserve silage for a longer period, add "Silage Preservative."
• Quality Measurement: Use the Flieg Index to measure the quality of silage.
• Usage: A cow should be fed silage made from corn, along with dry fodder, at 2 to 3% of its body weight daily. This mixture provides balanced nutrition and helps maintain the cow's health.

Silage Preservatives

To enhance the quality of silage, the following materials are added:

• Salt: Used to enhance flavor and speed up the preparation of silage.
• Carbohydrate/Sugar Source: Molasses and cereal grains are added to increase carbohydrate/sugar content, which helps maintain sweetness in the silage.
• Vitamin C Source: Citrus pulp, which provides vitamin C, is used in silage.
• Sodium Metabisulfite: Added to prevent odors in the silage.

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