Crude Fiber, Ether Extract, and Some Mineral Contents of the Corn Silage Grown at Different Weed Densities

Abstract

Silage quality has great importance in animal feeding as much as yield. Quality characteristics are generally evaluated over crude protein and digestibility, but parameters related to mineral, total fiber, and sugar contents are also important indicators of silage quality and its nutritive value. Plant characteristics could affect these parameters, as silage material, and thereby, any environmental factors could affect these parameters indirectly. Weeds are one of the main environmental problems in silage corn production and in this study, the effect of weed density (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 weeds m-2) on ether extract, crude ash, crude fiber, starch, and mineral (Mg, Ca, P) contents of the silage was investigated in the years of 2019 and 2020. Inter-annual climatic variations had significant effects on ether extract, crude fiber, starch, Ca, and P contents of corn silage. The effect of weed densities was observed only on starch and Ca content. Increasing weed density decreased the Ca content but starch content showed an irregular variation. Weed density did not cause any significant variations in ether extract, crude ash, crude fiber, Mg, and P contents of the corn silage, but the total amount of the nutrition could be increased in silage by decreasing the competitive ability of the weeds at growth conditions of the silage corn.