The Effect of a Silage Inoculant on Silage Quality, Aerobic Stability, and Meat Production on Farm Scale

Table 1

Chemical composition of whole plant corn at ensiling (average of 5 samples).

Parameter	Method	Units	Average	Standard deviation
Dry matter (DM)	Oven drying at 67°C for 24 h, equilibrated to room humidity overnight, milled through a 1 mm sieve and further dried at 105°C to constant weight.	g/kg	322.8	8.954
Crude protein	Kjeldahl-AOAC 984.13. 10.5 g of catalyst is used. With Block Digestion and Tecator Kjeltec system 1002 Distilling Unit	g/kg DM	87.9	2.124
Crude fat	Extraction by Soxtec System using petrol ether 40–600°C. Crude fat residue determined gravimetrically after drying		19.0	1.513
Crude fiber	With Fibercap (Foss Tecator) using sulphuric acid and Na hydroxide treatment		213.2	10.725
Nitrogen-free extract	Calculated		633.7	14.467
Crude ash	AOAC Method 942.05. Ca—AOAC 968.08 dry ashing, atomic absorption Spectrophotometry		46.2	3.850
Water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC)	Using the anthrone reaction assay (MAFF, 1986), from the herbage or silage extracts obtaining from steeping fresh herbage or silage in water		110.5	4.799
Digestible energy	Calculated	MJ/kg DM	12.95	0.051
Metabolizable energy	Calculated		10.69	0.102