Chemical Changes in the Making of A.I.V. Alfalfa Silage and Nutritive Qualities of Milk Produced Therefrom

Summary Alfalfa ensiled by the A.I.V. method showed large gains in amino and soluble nitrogen but only small increases in ammonia nitrogen. The carotene value increased but it is doubtful that the increase represents carotene. Bacteriological platings showed large numbers of microorganisms (10–200million per gm. of silage) to be present at various times during the fermentation. The production of volatile acids, ethyl alcohol and lactic acid indicated that microorganisms similar to those present in corn silage were active. When the alfalfa was ensiled without the addition of acid, enormous numbers of bacteria developed, and produced large quantities of ammonia and butyric acid. Feeding of A.I.V. alfalfa silage to dairy cows through the winter months produced a milk with 50 per cent more carotene and 40 per cent more vitamin A than milk produced on a well-balanced winter ration. Butterfat from cows on pasture contained from 50 to 100 per cent more carotene and about 30 per cent more vitamin A than butterfat produced from A.I.V. silage. Green alfalfa fed on the same dry weight basis as A.I.V. silage also increased the vitamin A potency of the butterfat over the A.I.V. values. Rats fed on mineralized milk produced by cows fed A.I.V. alfalfa grew more rapidly than rats fed mineralized winter milk. There was no appreciable difference in the growth of rats fed milk produced from A.I.V. silage, green alfalfa, or pasture.