An approach for determination of quality in hay bale and haylage
¹Çukurova University, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural Machinery and Technologies Engineering Department, TR 01330 Balcali-Adana, Turkey
²Eastern Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institute, P. Box: 45 Adana, Turkey
³Çukurova University, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural Machinery and Technologies Engineering Department, TR 01330 Balcali-Adana, Turkey
*Correspondence: aince@cu.edu.tr
Abstract:
In this study, a new approach for faster determination of quality in hay bale and haylage was aimed. To this end, the relationships between bale densities, dry matter (DM), pH content and penetrometer values in hay bale and haylage were investigated. The mixture of caramba (Lolium multiform cv Caramba) and berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L) was used as forage material. It was harvested by using two different harvesting methods and stored as dry hay and haylage. The penetrometer values were measured at four different points on bales. It was obtained that the pH content decreased with increase in bale density (R2 = 0.86) and with decrease in DM content (R2 = 0.86). The values measured at vertical-middle point gave higher correlation with density and pH contents.
Key words:
bale density, dry matter content, forage quality, pH