4. Forage and silage quaility of silphium integrifolium. is it an alternative for farmer?s adoption? D Ravetta, A Vilela, D. Van Tassel, and Alejandro Erasun

RAVETTA, D.A.; VILELA, A; VAN TASSEL, DAVID L.; ERASUN, ALEJANDRO

Salina, Kansas

Workshop; Fourth International Silphium meeting 2019. Salina, KS, USA; 2019

The Land Insitute

FORAGE AND SILAGE QUAILITY OF Silphium integrifolium. IS IT AN ALTERNATIVE FOR FARMER?S ADOPTION? D Ravetta, A Vilela, D. Van Tassel, and Alejandro Erasun. CONICET, TLI, Consultora Agropecuaria, Juarez, Argentina.Objective. To evaluate feed quality of Silphium integrifolium fresh biomass and ensilage. In these experiments only quality was assessed. Biomass production at pre- flowering-flowering has been reported in other abstracts (Vilela et al; Gonzalez Paleo et al). There is currently a new silage experiment underway in Salina. Other trials were done with cutting and bailing which are not reported here. Conclusions. Both fresh and as silage, S. integrifolium has an excellent forage value, comparable to sorghum and maize. Biomass production and quality are suitable for forage use and cutting could potentially be a tool for pest control (Vilela et al.).Table 1. Forage quality and digestibility of aboveground Silphium integrifolium biomass harvested at pre-flowering. Each sample was a bulk of 5 individual plants (n=4). ADF= Acid Detergent Fiber; NDF=Neutral Detergent Fiber; ND-ICP= Neutral Detergent Insoluble Crude Protein; NFC= non-fibrous carbohydrates; RFV= Relative Feed Value ; TDN= Total Digestible Nutrients Nel: net energy for lactation; Neg=net energy for growth; Nem=net energy for maintenance. Mean S.E. 91.3 0.18 27.7 0.71 Dry Matter (%)Crude Protein (%DM)ADF (%DM)aNDF (%DM)ND-ICP (%DM)NFC (%DM)RFV 406.0 20.5TDN-1x (%DM) Nel-3x (Mcal/cwt) Neg (Mcal/cwt) Nem (Mcal/cwt)77.5 0.62 81.0 0,68 49.6 0.71 77.5 0.821.5 0.80 17.9 0.71 4.4 0.12 45.4 0.65 Table 2. Silage of Silphium integrifolium above ground biomass harvested at pre- flowering, in Patagonia. Sorghum silage for comparison. Bulk of 30 plants for silphium. Farmer?s silage for Sorghum. Crop Silphium SorghumD.M. O.M. Digestibility 23.0 87.0 67.6 26.8 90.3 63,6Crude Protein 8.95.0NDF Net Energy 41.0 2.44 55.0 2.29