Cutting height, pre-wilting and additives affect the nutritional value of grass silage

Cutting height, pre-wilting and additives affect the nutritional value of grass silage Which are the determining factors for producing high nutritional value grass silage in the Autumn? This study which compares 2 different cutting heights, different additives and optional pre-wilting provides some interesting insights. A short cutting height (3-4 cm instead of 7-8 cm) strongly affects the ash and energy content of green fodder and silage harvested using a mower-conditioner As green fodder has a high nitrogen content, there is virtually no butyric fermentation in silage. Silage with a DM content lower than 20% has a high acetic acid content which reduces silage quality Using additives can help in some cases: silage additives can improve the quality of silage made from moist and soiled fodder, whereas additives containing lactic acid-producing bacteria help with pre-wilted silage.