Influence of Stage of Maturity and of Ground Snap Corn or Sodium Metabisulfite as Preservatives on the Feeding Value of Oat Silage

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Abstract
Fall-sown oats, harvested and stored in 20-ton upright silos, were evaluated with milking cows. In 1956, two silos were filled with oats cut at the prebloom stage, one at milk and one at dough stage. The 1957 silages included two silages cut at the boot stage, two cut at the prebloom stage, and one cut at the milk stage. Ground snap corn and sodium metabisulfite were compared as preservatives. Optimum dry matter preservation was achieved with the ground snap corn, with oats cut at the prebloom stage. In six silos where direct comparison was possible, the ground snap corn preserved 13% more dry matter than the sodium metabisulfite. Dry matter intake was only slightly influenced by the preservative and increased with stage of maturity through the milk stage in 1956 and prebloom stage in 1957. Persistency of milk production over a 28-day period was used as the criteria of feeding value. Only the oats cut at the boot stage were satisfactory for milk production when preserved with sodium metabisulfite, but all silages preserved with ground snap corn resulted in normal milk production.

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