Thesis (M.S)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-90).

Master of Science / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Ajay Sharda / Moisture measurement is critical when baling alfalfa into round bales for feed. If alfalfa is too wet or too dry, it can greatly diminish the alfalfa crop’s feed quality and cause economic loss to producers. Therefore, monitoring of alfalfa moisture content while baling is critical for producers to maintain hay quality and maximize profits. Currently, there are several different types of moisture sensing technologies available for round balers. But, concerns exist regarding their accuracy and repeatability during hay baling. Therefore, objectives of this project are to 1) Establish a protocol for coring methodology to assess the variation of moisture within a round alfalfa hay bale, and 2) Compare and contrast sensing accuracy and repeatability of different hay moisture sensing technologies. A coring methodology was established to determine the average moisture within a round bale based upon the way a sensor in a round baler chamber would determine the bale moisture; by looking at the moisture contents along the round bale diameter. This method was then compared with the more traditional method of using radial cores only to determine the whole bale moisture content. A sensor testing stand was developed to perform comparative testing between the sensors on the same alfalfa hay bale and collect core samples of material immediately after it was formed. Six commercially available moisture sensors were selected to measure moisture at four pre-determined locations on hay bales. After the sensor measurements, core samples were extracted from the exact same locations to determine actual moisture using oven-drying method. The moisture measurements were conducted during three growth stages and bales were formed with three approximate moisture contents of 10%, 15% and 20%. Six different cuts of alfalfa of the same variety were used to capture all the measurements. A seventh cut was also performed for moisture measurements with the alfalfa baled at 15% and the same growth stage, but different baler compression cylinder pressures (250, 400, and 800psi). Actual moisture content was across different sampling locations were compared to understand moisture distribution and establish coring protocol. Sensor and oven-dried measurements were compared to determine accuracy and repeatability of sensing technologies. Results showed that sensors and oven-dried measurement varied for all the sensors for every growth stage and baling moisture levels, with one sensor exhibiting lowest variability in its readings. The comparison identified the most accurate and reliable sensor among the ones currently available. A second year of testing was also conducted to validate the research from the first year of testing. Future research needs to be conducted to identify correlation between the testing stand readings and actual hay baler moisture sensor readings.

Alfalfa hay is one of the most important field crops in the United States, its regional price differences are driven by variations in quality, location, seasonality, and other features. This thesis investigates the impact of dairy cow inventories, lagged milk prices, corn prices, and alfalfa hay exports on alfalfa hay prices across regions and states utilizing a panel data. Furthermore, I analyze and depict a spatial economic distribution of alfalfa hay price variations with the support of SAS, ArcMap, and GeoDa. Results indicate that alfalfa hay exports are greatly contributing to higher alfalfa hay prices for the seven exporting states. Domestically, grain markets are highly linked to alfalfa hay markets and lagged milk prices as a derived demand have more influence than dairy cow inventories as a primary demand on alfalfa hay prices. Also, alfalfa hay prices are significantly and considerably different, and have positive spatial autocorrelation across states, following a consistent pattern with the lowest prices in the Midwest. Empirical evidence of this thesis may shed light on optimizing profit for dairy industries with an alternative ratio of fees crops and predicting when/where to sell/buy alfalfa hay for hay industries.

Alfalfa is the fourth largest commodity grown in the Western U.S., representing 20% of the crop acreage over the past twenty years. In the last five years alfalfa hay price has doubled from what it was previously, indicating a possible structural change in the market. This research project was completed to test for this structural change using econometric analysis of the important demand components of alfalfa price. In addition to this, simulations of an average Utah dairy were completed to examine which ratio of forage crops provided the highest economic return to the operation. To analyze the structural change of the alfalfa hay market milk price, feeder price, commodity price, dairy inventory, alfalfa ending stocks, alfalfa exports, a structural shift dummy variable, and two proxy variables representing costs and quality were regressed, explaining 76% of the variation in alfalfa hay price. A Chow-test of the divided data set provided evidence that a structural change occurred in the alfalfa hay market circa 1994. Percent changes in the independent variables and corresponding changes in alfalfa price were calculated, showing that milk price has the largest influence over alfalfa price. An in-sample forecast showed that the regression was able to predict alfalfa hay price to within an average of $14 of the actual price over the time frame included in the analysis. The simulation of an average Utah dairy was done at three levels of production: 18,300 lbs, 22,500 lbs., and 26,700 lbs. production. Within each level of production the alfalfa to corn silage ratio was varied to represent 25/75, 50/50, and 75/25%, respectively, of the dry matter forage requirement. It was found that return to management was the greatest when alfalfa was 25% of the ration and at the lowest when alfalfa was 75% of the ration at all levels of production.

3 pp. / Revised / The most effective weed control practice in alfalfa is maintaining a healthy crop and dense stand. Cultural practices that promote a vigorous stand can reduce the need for chemical weed control. Cultural practices that promote a healthy stand reduce the need for chemical weed control, but herbicides are sometimes necessary even in well-managed alfalfa.

A high moisture corn/soybean meal-based finishing ration was used to examine the effects of roughage source (corn silage, alfalfa hay), level of dietary roughage (8, 16, 24%), and ractopamine supplementation (none, Optaflexx) on growth performance, carcass traits, and beef quality for finishing 108 steers and 24 heifers (initial BW = 308 kg). Cattle were allocated by gender to 12 management regimen subclasses. Optaflexx (trade name for ractopamine hydrochloride) was fed over the last 28 d on feed with cattle marketed after common days on feed. Growth performance (ADG, feed intake, and feed efficiency) and carcass traits were assessed on an individual animal basis. A primal rib and semitendinosus (ST) muscle from each animal were processed at the University of Guelph Meat Laboratory for carcass and meat quality evaluations. Tenderness was determined using shear force assessment of product aged 7, 14, and 21 d. Average daily gains were similar (P > 0.27) across main effects while use of corn silage as the roughage source decreased (P < 0.001) dry matter intake and improved (P < 0.001) feed efficiency compared to feeding alfalfa hay. Roughage level and beta agonist supplementation did not affect (P > 0.13) dry matter intake or feed efficiency. When the last 28 days on feed were examined, Optaflexx supplementation increased (P < 0.001) weight change, ADG, and improved feed conversion, while DMI remained unchanged (P > 0.373). Carcass traits including hot carcass weight, grade fat, longissimus muscle area, marbling, and body composition as assessed by rib dissection (% lean, fat, bone) were not affected (P > 0.14) by roughage level, source, or use of Optaflexx. Fat partitioning and liver abscess scores were unaffected (P > 0.09) by source and level of roughage fed, and use of Optaflexx. Source and level of dietary roughage did not affect color (P > 0.21) or shear force (P > 0.20) values for longissimus (LM) and semitendinosus (ST) steaks. Lower DMI and better feed conversion can be achieved using corn silage as the roughage source, while inclusion of up to 24% roughage in finishing diets may not negatively impact gains, carcass characteristics or beef quality. Beef producers may be able to increase amounts of roughage in the diet to lower cost of production without compromising growth performance and carcass and meat quality.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-06-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:56:38Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 martins_mb_me_botfmvz.pdf: 732603 bytes, checksum: aaa29421580edf9cbe7e5d86e1091b6f (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) / Este trabalho objetivou avaliar o turnover e a meia-vida do carbono nas fezes e sangue de ovelhas alimentadas com plantas C3 e C4, pela técnica dos isótopos estáveis. Oito ovelhas da raça Santa Inês, após um período de adaptação de 45 dias recebendo 50% de feno de alfafa e 50% de silagem de milho, foram distribuídas ao acaso em dois tratamentos: o primeiro consistiu de animais que receberam feno de alfafa (C3-FA) e o segundo, dos animais que receberam apenas silagem de milho (C4-SM). Para mensurar o turnover de carbono (substituição isotópica) nas fezes e sangue em determinado intervalo de tempo, foi utilizada a função exponencial do tempo. Apenas os valores isotópicos das fezes atingiram o patamar de equilíbrio, indicando valores de meia-vida de 1,2 e 1,0 dias para os tratamentos C3-FA e C4-SM, respectivamente. Já no sangue, o tempo de coleta dos dados (104 dias) foi insuficiente para encontrar o patamar de equilíbrio isotópico, indicando uma troca de carbono lenta. De acordo com os resultados deste estudo, pode-se concluir que o sangue apresenta turnover lento indicando o sinal isotópico de dietas antigas; e as fezes, turnover rápido, indicadas para refletir dietas recentes, próximas da fase de avaliação / The aim of this work was to evaluate the carbon turnover and half-life on feces and blood sheep, fed on C3 and C4 plants, using the stable isotopes technique. Eight Santa Ines sheep, after 45 days as adjustment period receiving 50% of alfalfa hay and 50% of corn silage, were randomly assigned to two treatments: the first one the animals fed on alfalfa hay (C3-FA) and the second one the animals fed on only corn silage (C4-SM). The time exponential function was used to measure the carbon turnover (isotope substitution) on feces and blood in a certain period of time. Only the isotope feces values reached the plateau value, indicating half-life of 1.2 and 1.0 days for C3-FA and C4-SM treatment, respectively. The data collection time (104 days) for blood was not enough to find a plateau isotope, indicating a slow carbon exchange. So we can infer that the blood has a slow turnover, indicating isotopic signal of ancient diets; and the feces showed a fast turnover, being used to reflect recent diet, next to the evaluation period

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of corn silage hybrids and nonforage fiber sources (NFFS) in high forage diets formulated with high dietary proportion of alfalfa hay (AH) and corn silage (CS) on ruminal fermentation and productive performance by early lactating dairy cows. Eight multiparous Holstein cows (4 ruminally fistulated) averaging 36 ± 6.2 d in milk were used in a duplicated 4 × 4 Latin square design experiment with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Cows were fed 1 of 4 dietary treatments during each of the four 21-d periods. Treatments were: 1) conventional corn silage (CCS)-based diet without NFFS, 2) CCS-based diet with NFFS, 3) brown midrib corn silage (BMRCS)-based diet without NFFS, and 4) BMRCS-based diet with NFFS. Diets were isonitrogenous and isocaloric. Sources of NFFS consisted of ground soyhulls and pelleted beet pulp to replace a portion of AH and CS in the diets. In vitro 30-h NDF degradability was greater for BRMCS than CCS (42.3 vs. 31.2%). Neither CS hybrids nor NFFS affected intake of DM and nutrients. Digestibility of N, NDF, and ADF tended to be greater for cows consuming CCS-based diets. Milk yield was not influenced by CS hybrids and NFFS. However, a tendency for an interaction between CS hybrids and NFFS occurred with increasing milk yield due to feeding NFFS with the BMRCS-based diets. Yields of milk fat and 3.5% FCM decreased when feeding the BMRCS-based diet, and there was a tendency for an interaction between CS hybrids and NFFS by further decreased milk fat concentration because of feeding NFFS with BMRCS-based diet. Although feed efficiency (milk/DM intake) was not affected by corn silage hybrids and NFFS, there was an interaction between CS hybrids and NFFS because feed efficiency increased when NFFS was fed only with BMRCS-based diet. Total VFA production and individual molar proportion were not affected by diets. Dietary treatments did not influence ruminal pH profiles except that duration (h/d) of pH < 5.8 decreased when NFFS was fed in CCS-based diet but not in a BMRCS-based diet, causing a tendency for an interaction between CS hybrids and NFFS. Overall measurements in our study reveal that high forage NDF concentration (20% DM on average) may eliminate potentially positive effects of BMRCS. In the high forage diets, NFFS exerted limited effects on productive performance when they replaced AH and CS. Although the high quality AH provided adequate NDF (38.3% DM) for optimal rumen fermentative function, the low NDF concentration of the AH and the overall forage particle size reduced physically effective fiber and milk fat concentration.

Yield and chemical changes of second-cutting alfalfa hay treated with artificial rain were determined in a 2 x 3 x 2 factorial experiment. Factors were 2 stages of maturity (1 late vegetative; 2 early bloom), 3 levels of artificial rain applied (1 =no rain; 2 =low or approximately 5 mm; 3 =high or approximately 20 mm), and 2 times of applying artificial rain (1 = when drying forage was 40-60% dry matter; 2 =when drying forage was 60-75% dry matter). Thirty samples of alfalfa were collected at the 2 stages of maturity when the alfalfa was fresh cut, pre-sprinkled, pre-baled and prefeeding. Alfalfa samples were analyzed for dry matter, nitrogen, ash, plant cell walls, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, total lipids and acid insoluble ash. Available carbohydrates and soluble ash were calculated. Yield of dry matter increased with advancing maturity. Plant cell content fraction was lowered but plant cell wall constituents were increased with advancing stage of growth. Artificial rain significantly affected chemical composition of alfalfa hay. Available carbohydrates, soluble ash and ash decreased due to the effect of leaching. Total lipids was slightly reduced by leaching, while protein content was not changed. Cellulose, lignin and cell wall fractions of alfalfa hay increased consistently under the effect of artificial rain. Sprinkling and processing time did significantly change the chemical composition of alfalfa hay. DM and AlA content increased in relation to process. Interactions among treatment factors were generally nonsignificant. The only significant interactions were maturity-by-artificial rain level effect on available carbohydrate, lipids, cellulose and cell wall. In general, alfalfa hay treated with artificial rain had a lower nutritive and economic value than when it is not affected by any rain.

Orientador: Carlos Ducatti / Banca: Marcelo Zacarias Moreira / Banca: Cyntia Ludovico Martins / Resumo: Este trabalho objetivou avaliar o turnover e a meia-vida do carbono nas fezes e sangue de ovelhas alimentadas com plantas C3 e C4, pela técnica dos isótopos estáveis. Oito ovelhas da raça Santa Inês, após um período de adaptação de 45 dias recebendo 50% de feno de alfafa e 50% de silagem de milho, foram distribuídas ao acaso em dois tratamentos: o primeiro consistiu de animais que receberam feno de alfafa (C3-FA) e o segundo, dos animais que receberam apenas silagem de milho (C4-SM). Para mensurar o turnover de carbono (substituição isotópica) nas fezes e sangue em determinado intervalo de tempo, foi utilizada a função exponencial do tempo. Apenas os valores isotópicos das fezes atingiram o patamar de equilíbrio, indicando valores de meia-vida de 1,2 e 1,0 dias para os tratamentos C3-FA e C4-SM, respectivamente. Já no sangue, o tempo de coleta dos dados (104 dias) foi insuficiente para encontrar o patamar de equilíbrio isotópico, indicando uma troca de carbono lenta. De acordo com os resultados deste estudo, pode-se concluir que o sangue apresenta turnover lento indicando o sinal isotópico de dietas antigas; e as fezes, turnover rápido, indicadas para refletir dietas recentes, próximas da fase de avaliação / Abstract: The aim of this work was to evaluate the carbon turnover and half-life on feces and blood sheep, fed on C3 and C4 plants, using the stable isotopes technique. Eight Santa Ines sheep, after 45 days as adjustment period receiving 50% of alfalfa hay and 50% of corn silage, were randomly assigned to two treatments: the first one the animals fed on alfalfa hay (C3-FA) and the second one the animals fed on only corn silage (C4-SM). The time exponential function was used to measure the carbon turnover (isotope substitution) on feces and blood in a certain period of time. Only the isotope feces values reached the plateau value, indicating half-life of 1.2 and 1.0 days for C3-FA and C4-SM treatment, respectively. The data collection time (104 days) for blood was not enough to find a plateau isotope, indicating a slow carbon exchange. So we can infer that the blood has a slow turnover, indicating isotopic signal of ancient diets; and the feces showed a fast turnover, being used to reflect recent diet, next to the evaluation period / Mestre