Economic and energy efficiency of forage grain conservation

Abstract

The use of dry preparations is a cheap and environmentally safe method of feed chemical conservation. This can be proved by the results of economic and energy assessment of methods for preserving forage grain, performed using generally accepted methods. The analysis of various methods of preserving, storing and preparing for feeding raw forage grain showed that flattening, chemical preservation and storage in anaerobic conditions was significantly cheaper and less energy intensive than drying it to standard humidity and storing it in the open air. This method is comparable to storing grain of standard humidity, removed in favorable weather conditions and prepared for feeding by grinding it on a hammer mill. The analysis result seems logical due to lower energy costs when replacing grain crushing with flattening. In addition, the forage grain prepared in this way corresponds much to the animals’ physiological needs, and its preparation reduces the physical loss of feed.