Table 1.

Chemical and ensiling properties of alfalfa silage baled at different moisture concentrations and fertilized with dairy slurry at different times and offered to gestating ewes to measure voluntary intake and digestibility^1,2

Item	Moisture concentration3		SEM6	P-value	Dairy slurry application4			SEM6	Contrast P-values5
	LM	RM			NS	S0	S14		S	D
Moisture, %	33.0	39.4	4.81	0.39	29.4	36.8	42.4	5.89	0.21	0.53
OM, %	90.9	91.1	0.46	0.77	91.7	90.8	90.5	0.56	0.17	0.71
CP, %	18.5	19.0	0.76	0.39	18.7	19.0	18.5	0.47	0.99	0.55
NDF, %	44.1	41.1	0.96	0.08	42.9	42.5	42.5	1.18	0.76	0.97
NH3–CPE, %7	1.7	2.1	0.56	0.60	1.2	1.9	2.6	0.69	0.31	0.57
pH	5.4	6.0	0.41	0.14	5.5	5.7	5.8	0.44	0.44	0.72
Total silage acids, %	2.1	0.7	1.01	0.23	0.7	1.6	2.0	1.14	0.38	0.77
Lactic acid, %	1.0	0.3	0.79	0.37	0.0	0.8	1.1	0.87	0.29	0.82
Lactic acid, % total silage acids	34.1	30.8	11.48	0.74	26.2	37.6	33.7	12.39	0.39	0.73
Acetic acid, %	0.9	0.5	0.38	0.38	0.5	0.7	0.8	0.33	0.43	0.77
Titratable acidity	1.6	1.1	0.53	0.23	1.2	1.3	1.5	0.57	0.69	0.78

¹Concentrations of propionic, butyric, and isobutyric acids were below 0.1% and were not affected by moisture concentration, dairy slurry application treatment, or their interaction (P ≥ 0.24).

²There were no moisture × slurry interactions (P ≥ 0.22) for any of the variables measured.

³LM = low moisture at baling (39.7%); RM = recommended moisture at baling (46.8%).

⁴NS = no slurry application; S0 = slurry application immediately after previous cutting; S14 = slurry application 14 d after previous cutting.

⁵Probability of the orthogonal contrasts S and D where S = no slurry application vs. the mean of S0 and S14 and D = S0 vs. S14.

⁶SEM = pooled standard error of the mean.

⁷NH₃–CPE = ammonia–crude protein equivalent (percent of N in ammonia compared to percent of total N).