Anselmo Jose Spadotto, Antonio Carlos Silveira, Luiz Roberto Furlan, Mario de Beni Arrigoni, Ciniro Costa, Henrique Nunes de Oliveira, and Claudinei Parre
|
Anselmo Jose Spadotto UNESP-IB/IBD |
Antonio Carlos Silveira, Luiz Roberto Furlan, |
An experiment was carried out to evaluate corn [maize] grain and corn [maize] forage variety productivity and the nutritive value of silage based on the performance of cattle in a feedlot. A completely randomized design was used with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement based on two cattle breeds (Nelore and Canchim) and two corn [maize] types (grain and forage). The corn [maize] was harvested 120 days after sowing, when plants showed more than two-thirds of dry leaves and grain was in the dough stage. The silage was stored in 400-ton silos.
Table 1. Corn [maize] silage - yield characteristics and composition
|
Parameters |
Corn [maize] type |
|
|
Forage |
Grain |
|
|
As-fed yield(1) (ton/ha) |
45.0 |
27.2 |
|
DM (%) |
32.0 |
44.0 |
|
Yield DM (ton/ha) |
14.4 |
12.0 |
|
Grain yield (ton/ha) |
5.4 |
6.4 |
|
Remainder(2) (ton/ha) |
9.0 |
5.6 |
|
Grain in DM (%) |
37.5 |
53.0 |
Notes: (1) As fed matter. (2) Remainder of the plant.
The experimental diet consisted of grain or forage corn [maize] silage, 7.2 litre of liquid yeast (1.5 kg of dry yeast/head/day) and 1.1 kg of ground corn [maize] (1.0 kg DM/head/day). The experiment duration was 110 days, with a 20-day adaptation period and 90 days for data collection. Animals were weighed every 28 days. It was concluded that corn [maize] grain was more appropriate for silage than corn [maize] forage, because at the same stage of growth it produced a better quality silage with a higher DM content and a 41.3% higher grain yield, promoting higher weight gain and better feed:gain ratio in the feedlot beef cattle.
Table 2. Corn [maize] silage - chemical characteristics and pH
|
Parameters |
Corn [maize] type |
|
|
Forage |
Grain |
|
|
DM (%) |
34.80* |
45.60* |
|
CP (%) |
7.37 |
8.32 |
|
Acid detergent fibre (%) |
26.10* |
23.80* |
|
Lignin (%) |
4.10* |
2.80* |
|
NH3-N (1) (mg) |
8.73* |
6.52* |
|
Acid detergent insoluble nitrogen (mg) |
8.02* |
6.12* |
|
pH |
3.96 |
3.20 |
|
Cellulose (%) |
19.53 |
18.62 |
Notes: (1) Ammoniacal nitrogen as a percentage of total nitrogen. * Significant at the 5% level of probability.
Table 3. Animal performance during 90 days in feedlot
|
Breed |
Corn [maize] type |
Mean |
|||||||
|
Forage Corn [maize] |
Grain Corn [maize] |
||||||||
|
DG(1) |
DFI(2) |
FG(3) |
DG |
DFI |
FG |
DG |
DFI |
FG |
|
|
Nelore |
0.79 |
10.09 |
12.77 |
1.17 |
10.23 |
8.74 |
0.98 |
10.16 |
10.76 |
|
Canchim |
1.29 |
9.39 |
7.28 |
1.38 |
9.63 |
6.98 |
1.33 |
9.51 |
7.13 |
|
Mean |
1.04 |
9.74 |
10.03 |
1.28 |
9.93 |
7.86 |
|
|
|
Key: DG = Daily weight gain (kg/day). DFI = DM intake (kg/day). FG = Feed:gain ratio (kg DM/kg DG).
Coefficients of variation: (1) CV = 16.0%. (2) CV = 6.9%. (3) CV = 7.3%
Table 4. DM intake
|
Intake (kg/day) |
Corn [maize] type |
||
|
Grain |
Forage |
||
|
DM |
9.93 |
9.74 |
|
|
Concentrate |
2.50 |
2.50 |
|
|
Ground corn [maize] |
1.00 |
1.00 |
|
|
Yeast |
1.50 |
1.50 |
|
|
Silage |
7.43 |
7.24 |
|
|
Grain from the silage |
3.94 |
2.71 |
|
|
Rest(1) |
3.49 |
4.53 |
|
|
Total intake (Concentrate + silage) |
4.94 |
3.71 |
|
|
Total concentrate (concentrate + grain from the silage) |
6.64 |
5.21 |
|
|
Total forage |
3.49 |
4.53 |
|
|
Forage:concentrate ratio |
35:65 |
46:54 |
|
|
Daily gain |
1.28 |
1.04 |
|
Notes: (1) Rest = Remainder of the plant
