What is shredlage?
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EmailSome farmers may be unfamiliar with what shredlage actually is.
Shredlage™ might be a kind of new term for corn silage but it is not apparently quite new because Penn State University (PSU) conducted research to develop a harvesting method that can increase digestibility of both the fibrous and grain portion of corn silage in early 2000.
In this trial, the corn materials went through corrugated rolls before it was chopped. Thus, PSU conducted research to develop a harvesting method that can increase digestibility of both the fibrous and grain portion of corn silage. A standard kernel processor was replaced by a shredder processor, which resulted in longer particle size by shredding the crop length. They found that production increased 2.6 percent when compared to chopped silage from their feeding trial.
In a recent feeding study conducted in Wisconsin, Shaver and Ferraretto reported that corn shredlage harvested with a self-propelled forage harvester set at 30 mm theoretical length of cut (TLOC) had a great proportion of coarse stover particles in the shredlage when compared to normal processed corn silage harvested with the chopper set at 19 mm TLOC. This can increase the physically effective neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content of the ration. They found that dry matter intake (DMI) tended to be 1.4 pounds/day per cow greater for corn shredlage than normal processed corn silage. Milk yield, feed efficiency, milk fat, protein and urea-nitrogen contents, body weight and condition score were unaffected by two different types of corn silage. Yield of 3.5 percent fat-corrected milk tended to be greater for shredlage than normal processed corn silage. They said that the use of corn shredlage may allow for the feeding of higher forage diets while maintaining digestibility and milk production.
