Losses in the conservation of grassland herbage as molassed and metabisulphite silage in lined trench silos

Abstract

A conservation experiment is described in which a comparison of the nutrient losses and quality of sodium metabisulphite silage and molassed silage is made. The loss of dry matter in molassed silage is shown to be 3·5% higher than in metabisulphite silage. The lactic-acid content of metabisulphite silage is found to be some 40% less than that of molassed silage. The results obtained are discussed in relation to published work on conservation by metabisulphite and to the practical application of the method.