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Table 1 Descriptive statistics for nutrient composition, fatty acid profile, and particle size of the two silages used in the study

From: Effects of total replacement of corn silage with sorghum silage on milk yield, composition, and quality

Component (g/kg DM unless noted)

Corn silage

Sorghum silage

Mean

SEM

Mean

SEM

Nutrients

 DM as fed

331.9

4.8

222.7

0.8

 CP

76.8

0.9

73.7

1.9

 Fat

29.0

1.2

24.7

0.7

 Ash

43.2

6.0

79.3

0.4

 NDF

348.7

10.0

711.3

14.8

 ADF

197.4

5.7

459.9

11.5

 ADL

29.5

1.2

73.3

1.9

 Starch

351.9

20.2

25.7

2.4

 NSCa

502.4

10.6

111.9

15.8

 NEL b, Mcal/kg DM

1.82

0.02

0.92

0.04

 pH

3.68

0.02

4.08

0.07

Fatty acid profile

 SFAc, % of total FAd

    

 C16:0

14.4

0.1

22.6

0.5

 C18:0

2.31

0.03

2.77

0.21

 Total SFA

19.7

0.4

34.2

0.9

 MUFAe, % of total FA

    

 C18:1 n-9

15.3

2.0

5.2

1.1

 Total MUFA

17.9

2.0

9.1

1.0

 PUFAf, % of total FA

    

 C18:2 n-6

54.4

1.5

22.6

1.2

 C18:3 n-3

7.0

0.3

32.5

1.9

 Total PUFA

62.4

1.7

56.7

0.8

 n-6, % of total FA

54.5

1.5

22.9

1.2

 n-3, % of total FA

7.2

0.4

32.6

1.9

Particle size fraction, % retained (as-fed basis)

  > 19 mm

4.3

0.8

4.6

0.9

  > 8 to 19 mm

68.0

1.4

80.7

0.9

  < 8 mm

27.7

1.2

14.7

0.3

 pefg

0.72

0.01

0.85

0.01

 peNDFh, % of DM

24.6

0.6

62.1

0.4

 Mean particle sizei, mm

6.2

0.2

8.7

0.1

  1. a NSC non-structural carbohydrates, calculated as: 1000 – (CP + Fat + Ash + NDF), b NE L calculated according to NRC (2001 [8]), c SFA saturated fatty acids, d FA fatty acids, e MUFA monounsaturated fatty acids, f PUFA polyunsaturated fatty acids, g pef physical effectiveness factor, calculated as sum of the proportion of feed particles retained on sieves with openings of 19 and 8 mm, h peNDF physically effective NDF, calculated as pef multiplied by the corresponding NDF content, iMean particle size = calculated according to ASABE (2007 [17])