Digestibilities of Silages Made from Corn Interplanted with Soybean or Fababean

Abstract

Two sheep digestion trials ascertained the nutritive value of silages made from corn (Zea mays L.) interplanted with fababean (Vicia faba L.) or soybean (Glycine max L.) compared to corn grown alone. In the first trial dry matter digestibility of the corn-fababean silage was higher than corn silage (70.5 and 68.4%). Digestibilities of energy (3.07 and 3.13 Mcal/kg), protein (55.6 and 56.7%), cell wall constituents (60.2 and 60.8%), and acid detergent fiber (55.9 and 57.4%) were similar. In the second trial, digestibilities of dry matter (62.0 and 62.3%), energy (2.91 and 2.89 Mcal/kg), protein (54.9 and 52.4%), cell wall constituents (53.7 and 53.0%), and acid-detergent fiber (48.8 and 52.6%) were similar for corn-soybean and corn silages. Although the interplanted materials were relatively difficult to harvest, all silages were satisfactory and were consumed well.