Determining the Quality of Sugar Beet Pulp, Lenox, and Ryegrass Silages Used in Feeding Dairy Cattle, in Comparison To Corn Silage

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the quality of sugar beet pulp (Beta vulgaris L.), lenox (Brassica rapa L.), and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorium cv. caramba) silages used in feeding dairy cattle, in comparison to corn silage. Whole corn was harvested at the dough stage, lenox was harvested at the end of flowering, and ryegrass was harvested at the beginning of spike. No additives were added to the corn silage, but 5% molasses was added to the sugar beet pulp, ryegrass, and lenox silages that have low levels of easily degradable sugar. Additionally, 5% sainfoin was added to the sugar beet pulp silage to increase its dry matter level to 20%. All silages used in the study were classified as "very good" according to the Fleig scoring system. Four Holstein dairy cattle at a mean age of 3 years old, at the 3rd month of lactation, and with milk yields close to each other were used in the feeding experiment. In this study, the 4 x 4 Latin square trial design was applied, and each period of the experiment consisted of 21 days, 14 days for exercise and 7 days for sample collection. The amount of feed to be consumed by the animals according to the periods was calculated based on the National Research Council (NRC) standards considering their yield levels. In the experiment, milk yield was found to be similar in the silage groups, but milk fat levels were higher in the group consuming corn silage than the other groups. The rumen fluid and blood serum values of the animals were within the reference ranges. As a result, it was determined that these silages were competitive with corn silage in the feeding of dairy cattle as long as 5% molasses would be added to wet the beet pulp, lenox and ryegrass silages, whereas it was concluded that the digestibility and energy content of the ryegrass silage was lower than those of the other silages.