Effect of grain content on the nutritive value of whole-plant grain sorghum silage

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of grain content on the nutritive value of whole-plant grain sorghum silage. Silage dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) contents increased with increasing levels of grain in the reconstituted, whole-plant silages, whereas neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents decreased as the level of grain increased from 0 to 48%. When fed to sheep (used as a model), voluntary DM intake and DM and OM digestibilities increased in a linear manner, whereas ADF digestibility decreased with increasing level of grain. Crude protein and NDF digestibilities responded in a quadratic fashion to increasing grain content. These results suggest that the optimum level of grain in whole-plant grain sorghum silage is at least 48% of the DM in a high silage-based ration.