Results show a high standard of wholecrop production

摘要

The large number of entries submitted for the MGA's national wholecrop silage competition provides, for the first time, a clear indication of the quality of wholecrop silage being produced throughout the UK. This year's competition attracted 151 entries, of which 140 were fermented wholecrop and 11 alkaline treated wholecrop To ensure consistency, all the entries were analysed by the SAC laboratory at Aberdeen. "When the overall results were examined, several key points soon became clear," says John Bax, of Dairy Research and Consultancy (DRC), one of the competition sponsors, "In the past, fermented whole-crop has been associated with low starch levels of around 2-3% but these farm results, fgr both types of silage, were very good at 25% and above. The samples were also well preserved as shown by the low pH and ammonia content.