Processamento de plantas inteiras de híbridos de milho (Zea mays) para silagem.

Abstract

The use of proteic volumoso in the form of whole-plant corn silage is a way of obtaining high yields in animal husbandry. Specific chemical and physical attributes must be pursued to reach quality silage. In this case, the search for adequate material is highly important. This paper assayed 10 commercially available corn hybrids. The JF 92Z10® combine harvester used in the assay was adjusted to generate five different fragment sizes. The observed response variable was the relative amount of mass retained on the sieves, according to the Penn State Box methodology (by the University of Pennsylvania – USA). The hybrids were processed with similar dry matter contents. Different fragment sizes were observed among the 10 hybrids, in the same theoretic size (adjustment). A tendency for positive correlation was observed between the relative green matter mass of leaves and the mass retained on the first sieve (larger fragments). It is clearly necessary to have different adjustments when harvesting different forage hybrids, in order to obtain equal ensilage fragment sizes.