PRESERVATION OF FORAGE AND PASTURE

Introduction
Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated
livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage,
consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass
herbaceous plants). Pasture is typically grazed throughout the summer, in contrast to meadow
which is ungrazed or used for grazing only after being mown to make hay for animal fodder.
Pasture in a wider sense additionally includes rangelands, other unenclosed pastoral systems, and
land types used by wild animals for grazing or browsing. Fodders and grasses can be preserved
either as hay (dried fodder) or as silage (wet fodder), depending on the weather conditions and
the available resources. Silage and hay are fed in some high input farms in India to bridge
seasonal scarcity periods. However, silage and hay making have been extended only sporadically
to low input farmers. Previous efforts have not given the desired result due to very high losses
and reluctance in its acceptance by animals during the initial stages of feeding. Though the
technology has been fully standardised and can be easily applied under favourable conditions,
even little carelessness in its application results in quality loss or even complete spoilage.

Preservation of Forage and Pasture

Hay-making is the most important method of preserving forage in many countries, including
tropical ones. Silage-making is highly developed in temperate countries, especially in Europe,
and goes with intensification. In tropical countries, plant growth coincides with the rainy season,
which sometimes makes hay-making difficult. Any method of feed conservation involves losses
of dry matter in the process of fermentation and handling. Besides that, there is extra expenditure
in terms of labour and materials on the processing of green fodder over direct feeding as green
fodder.

Two methods are available for preserving or conserving the seasonal excess of pasture and
forage, viz. hay making and silage making. Each method has its own limitations and
advantageous.

Ensiling / Silage Making

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Silage is the final product when forage of sufficient moisture (> ~50%) is conserved and stored
anaerobically (oxygen-free), under conditions that encourage fermentation of sugars to organic
acids.

Fresh forage crops, such as maize, sorghum, wheat and lucerne, can be preserved by
ensiling (Oude Elferink et al. 1999a). Ensiling is a forage preservation method based on a
spontaneous acid lactic fermentation under anaerobic conditions (Whitlow and Hagler 2002;
Seglar 2003b). Silage techniques minimize the loss of nutrients as from harvest time until
storage. Moreover, they also improve the quality of feed (Beltzer 2003).
The epiphytic (existing on plants) lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that are present on forage crops
are involved in the fermentation of water-soluble carbohydrates to lactic acid and, to a lesser
extent, to acetic acid. As a result, the pH level of the ensiled material is reduced so the
activity of spoilage microorganisms is inhibited. Once the fresh material has been stored,
compacted and covered to exclude air, the ensiling process can be broken down into four
phases (Weinberg and Muck 1996; Driehuis and Oude Elferink 2000).

In the ensiling process, the absence of oxygen, leads to the fermentation of water soluble
carbohydrates to produce organic acids which increase acidity of the material (pH about 4.0).
Such anaerobic acid production (mainly lactic acid) arrests the growth of bacteria and moulds as
well as inactivates putrefying organisms, i.e. acts as a preservative. Consequently, the process
reduces nutrient losses and change in nutritive value. It serves as one of the best method of
fodder conservation. Unlike hay making, which has seasonal constraints and heavy nutrient
losses, silage on the other hand is superior and has better acceptability, digestibility and nutritive
value.

Haymaking

Hay is a stored forage that is essentially characterized by having low percent moisture
content (less than 15%). This means it can be stored unharmed by fermentation or mold
development (Beltzer 2003; Reboux et al. 2006). Although most forage crops can be stored as
haylages, the nutritional value of the latter is closely linked to the type of plant or original
forage. Among the substantial benefits brought about by this forage conservation system, the
following can be mentioned: low farm labor demand (both for forage harvesting and
supply), reduced production costs (Lascano 2002; Romero et al. 2003).
The basic principle of hay making is to reduce the moisture concentration in the green forages
sufficiently as to permit their storage without spoilage or further nutrient losses. The moisture
concentration in hay must be less than 15% at storage time. Hence, crops with thin stems and
many leaves are better suited for hay making as they dry faster than those having thick and pithy
stems and small leaves.