| Abstract: | This paper studies different amounts of wet sorghum distillers' grain (WSDG) for inclusion in napiergrass silage for silage fermentation. Napiergrass was harvested, chopped and mixed in four different ratios with WSDG. The ratio of WSDG to napiergrass on a dry matter basis was 0, 20, 40 and 60% respectively in four different dietary treatments. These materials were ensiled in 60 laboratory mini‐silos, 45 cm in height and 21 cm in radius. The napiergrass was put into 56 containers, which included two replicates for each of the four treatments. Each treatment utilised seven silage containers for each sampling time. Every two replicate mini‐silos were opened and sampled for analysis at 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 days after ensiling respectively. One silage container from each treatment was installed with a remote‐controlled electronic thermometer to record temperature changes. Sample analyses included determination of pH, titratable acidity, buffering capacity, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), crude protein, ammonia nitrogen, lactic acid, volatile fatty acids (VFA), water‐soluble carbohydrates (WSC), dry matter (DM) and ash. The results of the silage characteristics at the end of the 32 day ensilage showed that the pH value of the 40% WSDG group was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that of the other treatment groups. The titratable acidity, buffering capacity and water‐soluble carbohydrates of the control group were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those of the other groups. Lactic acid production by the 20% WSDG group was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of the other treatment groups. Lactic acid production in the control was significantly lower (P < 0.05). The ammonia N concentration of the total N of the 60% WSDG group was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that of the other groups. The Flieg score of the control was 85, the 20% group was 93, the 40% group was 95 and the 60% group was 91. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry |
