LEAFLET No. 49 MAY 1956 MY15 tz.. V HAY CRUSHING TESTS L. BUTT, W B. KELLEY, C. M. MARTIN and L. A. SMITH* (1 ',tiiik N 11111 I I iii N)', to\\ard( inowi liveliit\ (, 1)1 iwiitjioi iii Aldliiam4 hiix a be1 hi(Ii ijiiaiitv aiiid that this ijiiahit\ diia111 tiii 4i . ilailitaji ad qualtv slage al 411(1 ld ynii. 1 lle fia is, the Ibaxie. storiedliii~i Fleiiei fun tie lix ( ,tiiek prouldller. i exearehi (((ii ice Li thiat' of liiilw 1411112.IVai its Ila (.1 ithiar xx a' ttlef~. It is lix xt ni .( 1)41d i1 1 liwilt the on fesis a iskx i iiirii ,r iind(l takiii)4. Fiiithei, in hsoiitc DESCRIPTION of EQUIPMENT .\niiitiir ii lnal- Thei laxv 11se Jill hic 1 iill itl( is poi-x 1take- i rivcn a nd11(is tiwed (Iili a lx p\olnxx\ti aetni. It aoiii'itx ot a hix ~, Piek-1i1 tiite dih li 11( 1 Idjtistleiix spi sti i i l tI i~ii f lixil"eix thait to eiiauk A GR IC UL TU R AL E X P ER I ME NT O41/e ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC F. V. Smith, Director ST A TIO0N IN ST IT UT E Auburn, Alabama Figure 1. Crushed stems at right rapidly; at left are uncrushed stems. dry Figure 2. This hay crusher has mower blade attached as part of the unit. tic sliiXX ti xin h Li stemiis hincr 1). This clackilig 1)11 lliits thic stti to cit\ illillost ats r1iidl a tiic' icaX (AX Sonlic is ti islicis also l~it iiX II(c lialei at titce Lit s p)art iii tic ilit (Figure 2)._ hjlin)XX s%(,(1 that il la t-iiihicis tol'sitlciailX (sei ,1 t to 1one(1 IninX. tesXt tit( cruished ])iXti cri tilt at tilt siniii timei 19 per cent EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Eflect oil curing time: expcidllilccltX conductttd t iililsonii-assXX~l aiiig24 Riesults 1rm ini 19522 ol to 3(t inliis XXa IXoil the glroilil ililost TI hoiii 11(1XXas illedi at '31 per cen t Iloistili C. III tis te2st, tilt tric 1121lioX culred ill iiiiit o(1112thurd o1 thec biolc li1cdei for tile 11idilslicd. SLOW flours of cure DRYING WEATHER GOOD DRYI -N - VEATHER_1 G 100[- CRUSHED HAY UNCRUSHED HAY CRUSHED HAY UNCRUSHED HAY TABLE 1. CAROTENE CONTENT' OF JOHNSON GRASS HAY PRODUCED MAKING METHODS BY VARIOUS HAY- Sample identity Trial 1 Uncrushed Crushed Mower crushed Trial 2 Uncrushed Mower crushed Sampled at Cutting Baling ________. Mg./lb. Mg./lb. After 5 months storage Mg./lb. 4.4 (5.7) 5.1 (6.6) 8.6 (11.2) 77.0 77.0 77.0 12.0 (15.6)2 15.0 (19.5) 19.0 (24.7) 16.0 (20.8) 5.1 (6.6) 77.0 10.8 (14.0) 38.0 (44.6) 77.0 1 Expressed on dry matter basis. 2 Values in parenthesis represent percentage of original carotene. Note: After 5 months storage there were no significant differences in contents of moisture, protein, ether extract, and ash of the hays cured by different methods. Another test was conducted during less favorable hay-curing weather. This time the crushed hay required 54 hours to dry to 21 per cent moisture. Uncrushed hay needed 97 hours to dry to 25 per cent moisture. Thus, the crushed hay cured in a little over half the time needed for the uncrushed. Soybean hay harvested in 1951 showed similar results. Crushed soybean hay dried to 39 per cent moisture in 61/4 hours. The uncrushed hay tested 38 per cent moisture after 25 hours on the ground. It was noted that the crushed soybean stems dried almost as fast as the leaves. These results and those reported by other researchers indicate that on the average the curing rate of thickstemmed hay crops can be cut in half by the use of hay crushers. This general observation has been made by personnel of the Black Belt Substation where crushers have been in use for 6 years. Effect on quality: The carotene content of the Johnson grass hay as given in Table 1 was determined after mowing, at time of baling, and after 5 months in storage. The crushed hay cured during excellent weather contained over twice as much carotene at baling as did the uncrushed hay. Crushed hay cured during less favorable weather contained 1/3 to 1/2 more carotene than did the uncrushed hay. At baling time, the crushed hays contained from 1/5 to 1/2 of the carotene that was in the crop at mowing time. After 5 months storage all Johnson grass hay had less carotene than at time of baling. The crushed hay, however, still contained more carotene than the uncrushed. Crushed soybean hay also showed considerably more carotene at baling time than the uncrushed. These data are given in Table 2. This was believed to be caused by more exposure to the weather, since the uncrushed hay lay on the ground longer than the crushed. The moisture, protein, ether extract, and ash contents of all the hays after 5 months storage were not significantly different. There was some indication of a higher protein content in the crushed hay although the observations TABLE 2. CAROTENE AND PROTEIN CON1 TENT OF CRUSHED AND UNCRUSHED HAY AT VARIOUS STAGES Protein Carotene Sample At After At identity mowing baling mowing After baling Mg./lb.Mg./lb. Pct. Uncrushed 173 22 18.8 Pct. 16.2 Crushed 121 54 19.2 18.6 SExpressed on dry matter basis. The palatability of the crushed Johnson grass hay was indicated by mature brood cows at the Black Belt Substation. These cows consumed a daily 18pound wintering ration of crushed hay, stems included. A year earlier, the same cows had rejected the dry, brittle stems of a 15-pound ration of uncrushed hay. SUMMARY In two tests the time required for crushed Johnson grass hay to field-cure was % to 1/2 of that required for uncrushed hay. Crushed soybean hay dried to 34 per cent moisture in about 6 hours. Uncrushed hay from the same field required 25 hours to reach this moisture level. In these tests the risk of unfavorable weather was reduced considerably by crushing, since the time required for curing was within the period covered by normal weather forecasts. The carotene content of crushed hays was about twice that of the uncrushed. This Was also true after storage for 5 months, although all samples had lost carotene. No differences in moisture, protein, ether extract, or ash were noted in Johnson grass hay after 5 months of storage. The crushed and dried soybean hay showed a slight advantage over uncrushed hay in protein content.