Author： Haigh P.M.
Publisher： Academic Press
ISSN： 0021-8634
Source： Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research, Vol.66, Iss.1, 1997-01, pp. : 63-77
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Abstract
The amount of silage and silage effluent pro- duced from grass, maize and arable crops made in England and Wales from 1984-1994 is quantified, both on a basis of MAFF Region and end use of the silage. The total amount of silage made has increased by 148% from 25·30 Mt in 1984 to 37·55 Mt in 1994. In 1984 the proportions made were 97·5% grass, 2·5% maize and nil from arable crops (whole crop cereals). By 1994, the proportions were 90·9% grass, 7·8% maize and 1·3% arable crops. In 1984, grass silage comprised 60·4% first cut, 27·9% second cut and 4·7% third cut bunker-made silage with 7·0% made in bales. By 1994 the relative proportions were 53·3, 24·5, 4·1 and 18·1 % respectively. The average dry matter (DM) content of bunker made grass silage was first cut 241 g/kg, second cut 260 g/kg, third cut 243 g/kg and big bales 345 g/kg. For dairy cow silages it was first cut 233, second cut 268 and big bales 324 g/kg. The corresponding values for beef and sheep were 263, 299 and 385 g/kg. The average DM content of maize silage was 307 and arable 458 g/kg. However, except for arable silage, there were large between-year variations in DM content.The amount of effluent produced each year, calculated from the equation of Bastiman using the proportion of effluent produced at various ranges of DM i.e. <151, 150-170 to >290 g/kg was highly variable. In 1989, when a severe drought occurred, the 33·37 Mt of silage made produced only an estimated 497 Ml of effluent; whilst in 1993, when the silage making season was extremely wet, 37·93 Mt silage produced 1463 Ml of effluent. Overall, silages treated with acid additives constituted 15·9% of grass bunker made silage, but were responsible for 23·7 % of the effluent produced.From 1984-1994 the proportion of silage made as grass, maize and arable was 95·8, 3·7 and 0·5% and the estimated proportion of effluent produced was 97·2, 2·8 and <0·1% respectively. Similarly the proportions of grass silage made as first cut, second cut, third cut and big bales were 55·8, 25·7, 4·3 and 14·2% and the effluent produced 65·8, 23·6, 4·4 and 6·2% respectively. From 1992-1994 the proportion of first cut, second cut, third cut and big bale grass silage made for dairy cows was 27·0, 13·5, 4·5 and 3·6% and that for beef and sheep 27·8, 9·2, nil and 14·4% respectively. The corresponding estimated amounts of effluent were from dairy cow silages 44·2, 12·0, 6·8 and 3·2% and from beef and sheep 22·7, 7·7, nil and 3·4%.Effluent was mainly produced in the west i.e. Midland and West, South West and Wales, which were responsible for 65·4% of the grass silage made and 72·9% of the effluent produced, whilst the East and South East were responsible for 14·8% of the silage made, but only 11·6% of the effluent.
Related content
Access to resources
Recommend
By Richardson M. Dodd V.A. Lenehan J.J. Conaty S. O'Kiely P.
Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research, Vol. 72, Iss. 2, 1999-02 ,pp. :