Conservation of Fodders

The fodder conservation procedure involves cutting the crop in hay or silage. The cutting time influences the quality or feed value of the silage or hay. 

The crop must be at the phase in the growth cycle where plant sugars and vegetative growth are near or at the peak. Therefore, it will ensure that feed attributes like digestible energy, protein, digestibility, and dry matter percent are at their maximum value in the initial phase of the conservation procedure. All of these steps aim to preserve and maintain the feed value. 

Every dairy farm practices surplus conservation of fodders in the form of silage mostly. However, there are different ways to conserve fodder, such as stover and straw, apart from silage and hay.

Conservation of fodders is possible using silage or hay. However, few forage crops can be grown for hay or silage production. Besides, it is useful for grazing to preserve fodder for future use.

Conserving as wet fodder (silage) or dry fodder (hay), fodders, and grasses, preserving completely depends on the available resources and weather conditions. Such fodders are available as a feed to some of the high-input farms in India to bridge scarcity periods seasonally. 

How to Conserve Fodder?

Conservation of fodder is possible in various ways; however, haymaking is the best suitable method. Leguminous plants, a major protein source, work excellent to feed in the future. In addition, the lower moisture content of hay reduces the efforts and costs in handling and transportation. 

Fodder conservation deals with different processes such as straw, stover, hay, silage, and other forages.  

Straw Methodology

Among all food items, straw has the poorest protein content and contains a large percentage of crude fibre. Besides, they are also low in calcium, phosphorus, and other trace elements but are high in silica. 

On the other hand, rice and wheat are staple food and are common in livestock feed or pasture management. Hence, hay and silage making are ways to attain quality feed during lean. 

Generally, efforts help in the conservation of fodders as hay or silage at the pertinent phase of the cultivated cereal crop growth. 

After harvesting grain from the crop, the excess amount is called straw. Farmers collect those straws from the field and keep a stock after drying in a considerable amount to feed animals. 

Furthermore, storing on a wooden or bamboo platform raised over the ground minimises the heavy rainfall damage. 

Straw includes leaving out a portion of leaves and stems of cereal crops after separating grains such as oat straw, barley straw, paddy straw, wheat straw, and so on.

Stover Process

Stover is also the leftover portion of millet crops, including stems and leaves. Besides, it is somewhat more challenging than straws that require cutting into small pieces before feeding animals. Stover includes left out amounts of Jowar, Maize, Bajra, etc.

Hay Making

The primary principle of making hay is to lower the concentration of moisture in the green forages to allow their storage without spoiling or losing nutrients. Hay must be about 15% less in the moisture concentration at the storage time. Therefore, crops with thin stems and numerous leaves are perfectly suitable for haymaking as they dry quicker than pithy and thick stems with small leaves. 

Curing, harvesting, and baling of hay leguminous fodder crops need to harvest at the beginning of the flowering phase or when crown buds begin to grow, whereas grasses need to harvest at the flower’s beginning stage pre-flowering phase. 

Harvesting works well when air humidity is low. 

Silage

Production due to fermentation or ensiling of forage crops or pastures, silage provides excellent quality feed while comparing it to hay. It is because of the low interval between conserving and cutting the feed while making silage. The longer the interval, the more is the degradation of the feed nutrients. 

Forage crops require cutting for silage with hay at the vegetation stage, with more than 20 percent displaying seed heads. Storage and making of silage depend on an air-free environment which promotes the necessary fermenting procedures. Besides, it inhibits undesirable decay and processes. Therefore, from the moment silage production begins and feeding out is done, an air-free climate demands proper maintenance.

Conclusion

Production of Hay is the most common and preferable conservation of fodders process. Most of the pastures and crops are useful to make hay of different quality. 

But all making hay depends on wilting the cut pasture to the dry matter or moisture level where it is dry sufficiently. So, it does not ferment; however, wet matter does not shatter while baling.

Nevertheless, silage is better than haymaking due to the compact and easily stored in an airtight environment without drying. Furthermore, it is also easily digestible by animals.