Beet leaf silage

An uncovered heap of beet leaves

Beet leaves after harvest on swaths (in the background)

Beet leaf silage is a feed that comes from the ensiled leaves of sugar beet . It is also being used on a trial basis in biogas plants.

Feed value

A good feed value is generally assumed for raw ash contents (RA) of 20% of the dry matter . Then the energy content is 9.7 MJ ME / kg DM (megejoules of metabolic energy per kilogram of dry matter) and 5.9 MJ NEL / kg of DM (megajoule net energy lactation per kilogram of dry matter). For soiled silage with up to 30% raw ash content, the values ​​drop to 8.5 MJ ME / kg DM and 5.1 MJ NEL / kg DM. The RNB achieved a slightly positive value. The high risk of contamination of the beet leaves is problematic. This is one of the reasons why beet leaf silage is rarely used in dairy rations for high-performance cows .

technology

Beet harvester

Beet leaf fork for collecting beet leaves from swaths

In modern sugar beet harvesters , an overhead conveyor is usually installed instead of the leaf blower and a vehicle driving alongside is thus continuously loaded. With trailed beet harvesters, it is common for the leaves to be collected in a storage container. After a certain distance, the container is emptied onto the harvested soil. During the next round of the harvester, a lever protruding from the side feels the pile and automatically activates the emptying flap. This creates a swath of beet leaves that is perpendicular to the direction of cultivation about every 100 meters. This can then be loaded with loading wagons or wide forks and transported for rental. The rent is usually several meters high at first. The pile is weighted down with foil and earth. The material compacts strongly during the ensiling process, so that such fully ensiled forage heaps are usually only one meter high. The quantities of seepage in beet leaf silage are very high due to the low dry matter content during harvest.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ LfL Bayern with feed value table  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.8 MB)  
2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.