Effects of cutting time and maceration on preference and nitrogen balance in beef steers fed mixed birdsfoot trefoil-timothy grass hay cut at sunrise or sundown.

Forages cut at sundown usually contain a greater concentration of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) than those cut at sunrise. Maceration can speed up the rate of moisture loss of cut forage during field drying and reduce NSC utilization by plant cells. We aimed to evaluate the effects of cutting time and forage maceration on feed preference, apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients, and N balance in growing steers.

Effects on microbial diversity of fermentation temperature (10°C and 20°C), long-term storage at 5°C, and subsequent warming of corn silage.

Objective: To evaluate the effects on microbial diversity and biochemical parameters of gradually increasing temperatures, from 5 to 25 °C on corn silage which was previously fermented at ambient or low temperature.

Methods: Whole-plant corn silage was fermented in vacuum bag mini-silos at either 10 or 20 °C for two months and stored at 5 °C for two months. The mini-silos were then subjected to additional incubation from 5 to 25 °C in 5 °C increments.

Plant maturity and nitrogen fertilization affected fructan metabolism in harvestable tissues of timothy (Phleum pratense L.).

Timothy (Phleum pratense L.) is an important grass forage used for pasture, hay, and silage in regions with cool and humid growth seasons. One of the factors affecting the nutritive value of this grass is the concentration of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), mainly represented by fructans.

Sources of clostridia in raw milk on farms.

A PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) method was used to examine on-farm sources of Clostridium cluster I strains in four dairy farms over 2 years. Conventional microbiological analysis was used in parallel to monitor size of clostridial populations present in various components of the milk production chain (soil, forage, grass silage, maize silage, dry hay, and raw milk). PCR amplification with Clostridium cluster I-specific 16S rRNA gene primers followed by DGGE separation yielded a total of 47 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), which varied greatly with respect to frequency of occurrence.