EFFECT OF VARIETY OF ENSILED CORN AND HAY SUPPLEMENTATION ON MILK PRODUCTION

Abstract

Vacuum silages made from Pioneer 383 and Pride 5 corn were fed with concentrate and with and without hay to lactating dairy cows. Yields per hectare in terms of dry matter were 8,850 kg for Pioneer 383 and 8,350 kg for Pride 5. Intake of silage dry matter was significantly higher (P < 0.05) for Pride 5 (11.4 kg/day) than for Pioneer 383 (9.8 kg/day), and significantly lower (P < 0.05) for both silages when hay was fed (11.4 kg/day versus 9.7 kg/day). Fat-corrected milk production was significantly higher (P < 0.05) for Pride 5 (17.0 kg/day) than for Pioneer 383 silage (15.8 kg/day), and significantly higher (P < 0.05) when hay was fed, than without hay supplementation (167 kg/day versus 16.0 kg/day). Utilization of silage dry matter in terms of fat-corrected milk production per hectare was 10,486 kg for Pride 5 corn silage and 11,176 kg for Pioneer 383 corn silage.