Grovfodermajs
från odling till utfodring av växande nötkreatur
The use of forage maize has increased over the last years. The aim of this litterateur review was to summarize a part of the research that has been conducted on forage maize for growing cattle, including cultivation and conservation of the maize. The forage maize is planted in April or the beginning of May when the temperature in the soil is between 6 and 10°C. Maize needs high temperatures and much water. Maize is harvested in the autumn when the dry matter (DM) is more then 30% or the plants have been exposed to the first frost in the autumn. Maize has a low protein content, an energy content around 12 MJ/kg DM and a varying starch content from around 17 to 40% of DM. Grass silage and forage maize silage complement each other and because of this a clover/grass silage mixed with forage maize silage is excellent for growing cattle. A mixture of clover/grass silage and forage maize increases the daily gain by 0.2 kg and shortens the time for getting cattle ready for slaughter. The proportion of forage maize in the mixture has to be adapted to the animal and its ability to deposit fat because the fat deposition can increase if forage maize is a part of the feedmix. No deterioration of the meat quality from animals that have been fed with forage maize has been seen.