ChileanJAR

At the Remehue Experiment Station (INIA-Osorno). an experiment was conducted to evaluate the quality, through the animal response, of two red clover-ryegrass silage cuts: October 24 and December 15, 1985. The use of an additive was also evaluated (sodium formiate, Nermosal). The assay had four treatments, two different cuts with and without additive, and six replications, for each treatment. To measure the animal response, Holstein steers.. with 230 kg of initial weight, were used. A better liveweight gain (kg/animal/day) was obtained with the early cut treatment, when the additive was not used (0.551a v/s 0.362b). No differences were observed between the early and the late cuts, when Nermosal was used (0.666a v/s 0.536a). The application of this additive had a good response, specially in the second cut, producing the lowest pH and ammonia nitrogen, more lactic acid and the lowest butyric and acetic acid levels, There were no differences in silage intake among treatments. Dry matter digestibility was superior in the first cut, with and without additive.