Show EFFICIENT FEEDING AND LIVESTOCK MANAGEMENT i Dy By Dr Gustav Bohstedt Emeritus Professor of Animal husbandry University of Wisconsin ln For Better Oat Silage I As most rs who have rude Made silage know more mis mis- mistakes takes can be made in the prepa prepa- preparations rations of grass silage allege and cereal silage than corn or sorghum sil allege age So It itie 8 with the thA en ensiling of 01 oats Even so 80 oat silage Is be coming more dependable and more popular I recall the first time wit tl ensiled Data it s stale t a I w wet e tl strew straw and the I cows did di hot t like it Poa- Poa sibly we cut it itt to t or did t not noO chop it it fin enough we didn't pack if it well enough I Dr Bohstedt In thel sUo Rye allege e was M even worse None es had t tM the pleasant odor silage should have This was a long time me e alo o in inthe inthe the thirties when little adage aslage oth cpm corn or cane silage was being made and when we were figuratively just cutting our teeth on grass silage allege Since then most of us have gained from experience and oc still making mistakes s we have reached tOO the point where the preparation of oat and grass silage adage IS a more de de- de dependable and successful has been made all the way from the bloom stage when it definitely needs to be wilted before ensiling to the early arly dough stage BUlge The early dough stage is 8 the more preva 1 lent and nd nde even e t then rohlF a hour half wilting willing in the tho sun may be desir able uble At this stage there is Hough enough fermentable drabs drate to make an added preservative unnecessary It should be kept in mind that oats pass from the milk l stage e into r the d dough h hs s stage e eT el T in a avery very few days ays so timing Is Im- Im Important im portent and delay may belike be like aU all cereals oats are arc holt hol low stemmed and unless the ensilage cutter is s set t for a short shortcut shortcut cut not longer than three eighths inch the material traps a 11 lot of air and will not pack well in the silo for best fermen- fermen fermentation n I tation and preservation Good packing is essential so be sure Of the short cut At best oat silage is not quite ui as palatable earl nutritious u as corn com silage However where forage is really needed oats lends itself very well for lor ensile ensil ing in late June or Dr early July A tall variety has greater grEster sU ail age value at an earlier stage of growth If is a problem an early removal IS necessary to protect a new grass and legume seeding Tests in Nebraska showed could that tf tonnage be estimated ti of silage by per dividing acre the EStimated bushels per aero per aero yield by eight This reveals that an ensiled castled oat crop has fully 75 percent nt more actual feed vi value ue m terms of f net energy than the same crop harvested for o grain Questions Can the time longtime practice of adding 10 to lb 15 pounds salt to a ton of hay be depended upon to prevent spontaneous r overheating t combustion molding and spon- spon ter A Salt used in this manner has been observed tomake to tomake make for lor better palatability of the Jay hay and anda a slightly better color with lees ess dustiness It can cann not prevent spontaneous com buston bustion where the hay is stored quito quite damp |