Abstract
We tested a flail-type roll baler (FR) for wilting Italian ryegrass, oats, Guinea grass, and Sudan grass. The FR wilting system produced faster drying than the conventional system, except with Italian ryegrass. The number of times of turning did not influence a drying rate. In Italian ryegrass and oats, the increase in a lactic acid content, the content sum of butyric, caproic and valeric acid and VBN/T-N decreased in the silage which performed wilting processing compared with non-wilting silage. The fermentation quality of the silage wilted by FR were equivalent of the silage wilted by the conventional system. In Guinea grass, any processing silage had low V-Score. In FR wilting, a harvest loss rate tended to have increased compared with the conventional system except for GG. As for any forage grass, about estimated TDN and the fiber fraction, the silage made in FR wilting did not have a difference the silage made in conventional system. The FR wilting system shortened the harvesting time of Sudan grass. These results showed that the FR wilting system, which cuts the grass and then dries and harvests it without turning or with turnig once, enabled faster drying than the conventional system, and the fermentation quality of these silage is equivalent to the silage produced conventionally.
