A New Ex-Situ Method to Investigate Aerobic Stability of Maize Silage Faces

Jungbluth K, Maack C, Büscher W, Sun Y, Cheng Q, Menghua L and Hong C

 

Full Length Research Paper I Published May,2016

 

Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Technology  Vol. 2 (4), pp.49-54

 

 

ABSTRACT

 

A small scale method was developed to investigate the aerobic stability of silage during air exposure. 65 l-buckets were filled with maize. Three temperature sensors were inserted into each bucket at predefined positions. Cannulas were inserted to take gas samples from the buckets. The gas samples were analysed for CO₂, O₂, N₂O and CH₄ concentration. To quantify losses buckets were weighed before and after aerobic exposure. Silage samples were taken before and after aerobic exposure. Samples were analysed for pH and chemical composition. The objective of the present study was to develop a new test method for the aerobic deterioration of silages under reproducible conditions. After validating the method with results from practical scale it can be concluded that the method is highly effective, close to practice, very suitable to laboratory conditions, replicable and connectable to other experiments.

Key Words: Feed quality, Silage quality, Aerobic stability, Reheating, Deterioration and Maize silage.
 

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