The authors developed a self-propelled harvesting baler, which could be used for harvesting, chopping, forming forage crops into a round bale, and even for muddy fields, for contractors active mainly in Honsyu, Shikoku and Kyusyu districts. Our constructed maize harvesting system consisted of the baler and a conventional self-propelled bale wrapper. Loss at bale release of the baler was 1.5% on average. Mass and dry matter density of the roll bale was 488kg and 197kg/m^3 on average. The baler's rate of work was 38a/h on average for 30a fields. It was 13a/h on average for the fields of less than 5a, so it was obviously fit for even narrow fields on mountain sides. Furthermore, it was obvious that the rates of work of the baler and the bale wrapper were balanced by a harvesting method in which the baler traveled from one side of the field to the other. The high practicality of the baler and the harvesting system was thus verified.

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Reduction of plant sodium level as a means of salt tolerance of Chinese wild rye (Aneurolepidium chinense (Trin.) Kitag.) was investigated under salt stressed condition as compared with perennial ryegrass (salt tolerant) and meadow fescue (salt sensitive). Sodium concentration in the top portion of Chinese wild rye was lower than those in other two grasses, while the excretion rate in the rye top was only slightly higher. Sodium concentration in the root of the rye was similar to that for the other two grasses, while the absorption and excretion rates in the rye root were lower. Difference between the absorption and excretion rates in the rye root was smaller than that in the other two grasses. The results obtained suggest that low absorption and functional excretion of salt in root, and the resulting low accumulation in top, are responsible for the salt tolerance of Chinese wild rye.

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The experiment was carried out to examine the effects of the addition of cellulase and lactic acid bacteria on concentrations of cell wall constituents of reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) silages. Cellulase derived from Acremonium cellulolyticus Y-94 (AC) was added to fresh reed canarygrass at ratios of 0.01% and 0.05%. A commercial lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) inoculant (SL) containing a mixture of two types of cellulases was added to fresh reed canarygrass at a ratio of 0.05%. The effects of the wilted treatment on cell wall constituents of the silages were also complementarily investigated. After a 60 day storage in a small-scaled silo (1 liter plastic bottle), the addition of 0.05% of AC significantly decreased the concentration of both neutral and acid detergent fiber. But the addition of SL did not have significantly effect on both neutral and acid detergent fiber. These results confirmed that the addition of AC decreases the concentration of cell wall constituents of the reed canarygrass silages (RCS); furthermore, it seems to indicate that the addition of AC improved the fermentation quality of the silage. However, the wilted treatment was not effective to decrease the concentration of cell wall constituents of RCS.

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We investigated the selection of residences and feeding sites by cattle in a winter grazing system in northern Tohoku, Japan, in order to control cattle spatial distribution in the system. Forty to sixty Japanese Shorthorn heifers and steers were stocked from November to January on an area comprising two pastures (pasture A (1.1ha), pasture B (1.6ha)) and a forest (1.5ha), under feeding of concentrate and grass silage. Selection by the cattle of three areas (pastures A and B and forest) for both residence and feeding during the daytime and the whole day was correlated negatively with the distance from water and positively with the quantity (supply of concentrate and silage) and quality (TDN) of feeds. Supply of concentrate and feed quality were correlated less strongly with the selection for feeding than the residence (for daytime). The green herbage mass in the pastures and forest was correlated positively with the selection for feeding only. The feeding level of silage showed positive correlations with the selection for residence and feeding in all time zones (daytime, nighttime and whole day). The results demonstrate that animal distribution can be controlled by manipulating feeding sites of stored feed such as silage.

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Water endurance at the seedling stage (14-26 days after seeding) was compared among 23 commercial cultivars of silage corn (Zea mays L.), in a pot experiment, by 2 watering treatments: waterlogging treatment with distilled water for 12 days, and non-stressed control treatment. At the end of 12-day treatments, the dry weight of whole plant parts was measured to calculate the water endurance index (WEI) by the dry weight ratio (Waterlogging treatment/Control treatment) for each cultivar. The WEI values of KD750, Kumiai-dent 122, SH9904, KD365, 34B39, Cecilia and ZX7605 were higher than those of the other 16 cultivars. In the waterlogging treatment, the cultivars with high WEI value decreased their dry weight of root slightly, but did not their dry weight of top. Generally, the lower the dry weight of whole parts was, the higher the WEI was, although ZX7605, Cecilia and 34B39 with high dry weight had relatively high WEI. The earliness was not related to their WEI values of the cultivars.

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