Nutritional and morphostructural characterization of pre-dried winter grass silage

Abstract

The aim was to evaluate the productive quality and fermentative as like the nutritional parameters of winter grass silage in the vegetative and reproductive stages in two consecutive crop years. The experiment was carried out at Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Campus Dois Vizinhos, Brazil, from April 2012 to December 2013. The experimental field had a 560 m2 area; it comprised 32 plots of 16 m2 each, with a space of 0.5 m between blocks. Four winter grass species were used, including Avena sativa L. ‘IPR 126’ (white oat), Avena strigosa Schreb. ‘IAPAR 61’ (lopsided oat), Lolium multiflorum Lam. ‘Barjumbo’ (ryegrass), and Secale cereale L. ‘Temprano’ (rye), being evaluated through silage making in two phenological stages, vegetative and reproductive. The experimental design was randomized block in a bifactorial scheme (cultivar and phenological phase of pasture). The experimental materials were ensiled in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microsiles, with four replicates per treatment. Pre-drying and ensiling allowed the preservation of material quality. The highest yields of dry matter per hectare were obtained in the reproductive stage; however, the nutritive content at this stage was relatively lower when compared with vegetative. The rye presented relatively less variation of the nutritional composition between the studied phenological stages. The ash content of the forage influenced the pH of the silage, and the highest pH was verified at the vegetative stage. Even with pre-dehydration, the vegetative stage presented a greater loss of effluents than the reproductive stage.