Ensiled total mixed ration:A non-conventional silage supporting animal production in Japan

摘要

Dairy farmers are encouraged to feed a total mixed ration (TMR) to stabilize microbial function and improve energy and protein utilization in the rumen. It has become a common practice in Japan that high-moisture byproducts are stored with dry feeds as an ensiled TMR. This may minimize the risk of effluent production and can o-mit the time for mixing prior to feeding. Unpalatable by-products could be incorporated into a TMR, if their odors and flavors are altered through the fermentation in a silo. An interesting property of the ensiled TMR is high stability on exposure to air. Heating would not occur even in summer, whereas non-ensiled TMR may deteriorate quite rapidly. Conventional criteria do not account well for the stability, because the ensiled TMR can remain unheated even with a large number of yeasts and a substantial level of substrates (sugars and lactic acid) for the growth of aerobic microorganisms. We have investigated the factors involved in resistance to deterioration, and some of them are described in this paper.