FORAGE YIELD, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND POTENTIAL MILK YIELD USING MAIZE SILAGE FROM ASIA, EUROPE, NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Background. Corn (Zea mays L.) silage is the most widely used energy resource in dairy cattle diet worldwide, standing out mainly for its higher biomass yields, good palatability, homogeneous quality at harvest and ease of ensiling due to higher soluble sugar content, with respect to other grasses. Objective.To make a systematic review of the characteristics of silage production, its chemical composition, and its potential milk production in different parts of the world, according to the data obtained. Methodology. A search for studies on the production and chemical composition of maize silage was carried out worldwide. For this purpose, a search for information was carried out in the following databases, published between 2000 and 2020.The potential milk yield per hectare (kg milk/ha) was calculated using the MILK2006® program. To analyze the relationship between all variables a multivariate analysis approach was used implementing a Factorial Analysis of Mixed Data (FAMD). Main Findings. The overall maize silage yield median is 12.55 ton DM/ha, median density 80,000 plants per hectare. Median dry matter (DM) is 30.5 g/100 g DM, with median dry matter digestibility (DMD) 66.6 g/100 g DM. The median TDN is 64.7 g/100 g DM, producing a median of 506 kg milk/ton DM and 22968 kg milk/ha. Asia had the highest DM Yield/ton ha and DMD (P < 0.001) followed by Europe, and North America. No differences by continent (P > 0.05) were found in TDN, kg milk/ton DM and kg milk/ha. Asia and North America continent had the best silage characteristics (DM and DMD), but this did not affect milk production being similar among continents. Implications. The analysis was limited to published scientific contributions only, however, not all the articles in the survey could be used, because they did not meet the criteria for inclusion. Conclusion. The Asian and North American continents had the best silage characteristics (DM and DMD), but this did not affect milk production using the MILK2006® programme, being similar between continents.