What does DMD mean in silage?

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The DMD (Dry Matter Digestibility) is an accurate and reliable test of forage feeding value. The DMD result is used to estimate energy of the silage, as well as expected live weight gains/milk yields and planning supplementation rates. DMDs of 70% and over are good. Target Silage Quality.

What is the average DMD of grass silage produced in Ireland?

Silage quality ranges from 58% to 78% dry matter digestibility (DMD) nationally, on average quality remains poor at around 65% DMD. Over the coming week decisions made at farm level will have a huge impact on the quality of silage fed next winter.

How do you get high DMD silage?

Once heading out commences, the digestibility of the crop will drop by 2-3% units per week. So, if you are aiming to make a high DMD silage you need to harvest the crop just prior to when the seed heads start to emerge, which is about a week before the mean heading date of the varieties in your silage mixture.

How can a farmer make high DMD silage?

Harvest date is the key factor that affects silage DMD….On average, each 5 unit increase in silage DMD increase;

Milk yield of dairy cows by 1.65kg/day.
Carcass gain of finishing beef cattle by 0.12kg/day.
Carcass gain of finishing lambs by 47g/day.
Pregnant ewe weight post lambing by 6.5kg.
Lamb birth weight by 0.26kg.

What is the D value of grass?

Normal D-Values for grass silage are in the region of 64-72 with very high quality silages at higher levels.

What is D value in haylage?

Digestibility (D-value): D value is the measure of digestibility of the proportion of the forage that can be digested by livestock and is made up of crude protein, carbohydrates and lipids (oils).

What is good quality silage?

A Sugar content of 3% or higher is critical to silage ensilability. This combination ensures good silage preservation, higher the intake potential and animal performance. Early May silage has the highest dry matter digestibility (DMD) in combination with potentially the most difficult ensiling conditions.

What is the pH of good silage?

SILAGE of good quality has a pH of 4.2 or less, with the possible exception of silage made from wilted materials. If grass with a high protein content is ensiled, acids or carbohydrates may have to be added to obtain such a low pH.