Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a me~hod of treating hay having
high moisture content, i.e., more than about 18%, to preserve
the hay against spoilage and to maintain its palatability and
nutritive values, and the resulting treated hay product.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION:
Hay is a green forage crop grown ànd harvested for the
feeding of livestock animals. Hay may be any one, or a mixture,
of several grasses and plants, e.g. timothy; clovers, alfalfa;
brome grass; Sudan grass; millet; milo; corn fodder and stover; -~
pea hay; soybean hay; pinto hay; oat, wheat, barley or rye hay; -
sunflower fodder; cane; beet tops; and the like. As used
herein, "hay" is intended to encompass any one or a mixture of
these forage plants and residues. -~;
Ideally, the hay should be relatively dry, i.e., less
than about 17% moisture, when put away for storage, whether
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bs1ed or stacked or chopped, whether loose or compacted. If
stored under higher moisture conditions, hay is subject to
heating, sometimes resulting in spontaneous combustion; It is ~ ~
subject to spoilage, injurious mold growth and the like. It ~-
;~ Z0 is also subject to loss of palatability and animal acceptance;
loss of protein, total digestable nutrients ~TDN) and other
intrinsive nutritive values; and like degradation as an animal
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~ feed. High moisture hay is dificult to grind and di-f~icult
i~ to handle in mechanical equipment. Hay ordinarily loses about
i 40% o~ its nutritive value between mowing and feeding due to
drying and storage during the curing process.
¦~ Drying of hay is ordinarily accomplished in the field by
depositing the mowed hay in swaths or windrows, with or without
conditioning by breaking the stalk structure to hasten drying,
and leaving for several days. ~lowever, this method of drying
is subject to the vagaries o the weather. Artificial drying
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is expensive in time, labor and fuel, making this method gener-
ally uneconomical.
THFJ PRIOR ART:
It has been proposed to preserve high moisture hay by
treating in the field with an organic acid, such as proprionic
acid, along with a mold inhibitor. This method has limitations - ~
as to moisture content of the hay and results as to maintenance ~ -
of nutritive values are at this date inconclusive. -
United States Patents No. 3,343,962 and No. 3,497,359 - -
disclose supplementing livestock feed with a cultured whey ~ -
product containing Lactobacillus acido~hilus in the form of a
semi-solid slurry or dry powder mixed~ ith a carrier. According
to one form of practice, the slurry is mixed with a grain carrier :
in the proportion of 10 pounds of slurry to 9 pounds of grain ~ ~-
carrier and dried. As an alternative, it is suggested that a
less dense slurry may be fed directly to animals, or may be
sprayed directly into various binder and foodstuffs at concen-
trations of 1-3~ or may be sprayed directly or in a water
solution onto the leaves of a variety of vegetation for the
purpose of leaf feeding, i.e., in the form of living plants~
According to the methods of these patents, the feed supplement-
ation is the result of the addition of substantial quantities
; o the cultured whey product and no suggestion of preservation
of the carriers is made.
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5UMMARY OF THE INVENTION: ~
The present invention is based upon the discovery that
the addition of a small amount o~ Lactoba lus acidophilus ~ -
~ to freshly cut hay, as defirled, permits the harvesting and
t~` storage of the hay at higher than usual moisture content without ~ ~¦ 30 the usual resulting degradation of the hay and without the -
normal loss of nutritive value due to curing. Broadly stated,
the invention is directed to the method of treating high moisture
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hay to preserve the same and to maintain its nutritive values,
which method comprises applying a dilute culture of Lactobacillus ~ ~-
acidophilus to the hay and admixing therewith prior to storage.
The cultured whey products of Patents No. 3,343,962 and No.
3,4~7,359 represent one form in which the Lactobacillus
acidophilus may be applied to the hay, but the invention is not
restricted to the use of any particular form of Lactobacillus -
acidophilus culture.
DESCRIPTION O~ THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:
In carrying out the invention, the Lactobacillus acido~
philus organisms are applied to the hay from an aqueous carrier. --
Desirably, the organisms are applied to the hay as it is
collected from swaths or windrows in the fields preparatory to
baling, stacking or chopping. Alternatively, the organlsms may
be applied~to the hay as it leaves the swather or windroweT -
prior to partial drying in the -field. In the case of hay to
be chopped for ensilage, the organisms may be deposited after
chopping as the hay is blown to the silo or other storage area.
Desirably, the Lactobacillus acidophilus organisms are
applied to the hay in concentration between about ~5 to 90
billion cells per ton of hay. For example, one gallon of a
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Lactobacillus ~ concentrate containing about 1.4
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billion cells per cc is diluted with about 12 gallons of water
and distributed over the hay in the -form of a fine spray mist
; ~ at;the rate o abou~ 15-25 ounces per ton of hay. Typically
with hay at about 30% moisture, about 20 ounces per ton of hay
~ should be applied. At higher moisture contents, a greater
!;~ proportion of the organism should be applied.
~ Under ideal conditions, untreated hay is left in the field
`j~ 30 for drying from about 2-1/2 to 5 days. Under adverse weather
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and climatic conditions, this time may be much longer. Utilizing ;
the treatment of the present invention under ideal conditions, ~
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the hay may be gathered within less than 2~ to 36 hours and,
under adverse conditions, within 48 to 72 hours.
Because the suspension of organisms is applied to a loose
uncompacted mass as a pressurized spray, the suspension tends ~-
to penetrate and become distributed through the whole mass.
When applied to chopped hay, thorough mixing is assured as the ~ -
result of the agitation inherent in ~he transport o-f the chopped ;
hay to the storage chamber. ~ -
It has been found that as a result of the Lactobacillus
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acidophilus treatment there is a reduction in heating in the
newly formed baled or stacked mass of hay. There is a reduction
of mold formation. The structure of the hay is maintained as
indicated by a reduction of leaf loss through shattering and
crushing. The hay may be preserved in storage at a higher
moisture content than currently possible. The treated cured
and stored hay is more easily ground mechanically. In con-
trolled animal feeding tests, it has been found that the initial
nutritive values of the hay are maintained at a higher level
in the form of higher protein, higher total digestive nutrients
Z0 and other nutritive values. The treated hay has higher palat-
ability, as indicated by animal acceptance.
The lnvention is further described by the following illus-
trative example.
A 130 acre stand of hay in Faulk County, South Dakota,
grown from an alfalfa-western wheat grass-slender wheat grass
mixture was mowed and windrowed. The hay was passed through a
Gehl conditioner and redeposited on the field The weather and
l ~ general climatic conditions were generally fair to ideal. On :~
i,' the following day the fresh cut hay was collected and baled.
The baler was fitted with a 15 gallon liquid supply tank which
was pressurized with carbon dioxide and connected to multiple
l spray nozzles situated over the windrow intake area. A dilute
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Lactobacillus acidophilus suspension was prepared in the
proportion of 1 gallon of concentrate containing 1.4 billion
organisms per cc to 12 gallons of water.
The moisture content of certain of the windrows was deter-
mined to be about 30%. The Lactobacillus acidophilus suspension
was applied to this hay at the rate o~ 20 ounces per ton to
apply about 65 billion cells per ton of hay. The moisture
content of other windrows was dekermined to be about 37% and
the organism was applied at the same 20 ounce per ton rate. ~
The moisture content of still other windrows was determined to -
be about 42% and the organism was applied at the rate of about
23 ounces, or about 75 million organisms per ton. The hay was
formed into rolled bales 5 feet wide by 5 feet in diameter and
the bales were marked O
The 37% moisture hay was fed in a controlled test to a
group of animals composed of 5 adult cows, 1 bull, 3 yearlings
and 5 nursing calves. The animals were fed free choice, that
is, the feed was available to the animals day and night without
limitation. As a control, the animals were fed untreated hay ~ ~
as similar to the treated hay as possible under field conditions. ; ~ -
Over a period of 13 days 2880 pounds of the untreated hay was
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consumed by the animals. Of this, 2718 pounds were eaten and -
162 pounds was regarded as waste, rejected by the animals,
scattered on the ground, etc. The average untreated hay con-
sumption was 209 pounds per day.
The same animal group was then fed 2918 pounds of hay
treated as described over a period of 15-1/2 days. Of this,
2859 pounds were eaten and 59 pounds were waste. An average
of 184.5 pounds of the treated hay was eaten per day. The
maintained nutritive value of the treated hay, increased value
as compared with the untreated hay, is indicated by the lower
consumption of the treated hay. The nutritive requirements of
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the animals were satisfied on a free choice basis with a lesser
total amount of hay. The greater palatability of the treated
hay is indicated by the markedly reduced amount of waste,
It is apparent that many modifications and variations of
this invention as hereinbefore set forth may be made without ;
departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The specific ~
embodiments described are given by way of example only and the -
invention is limited only by the terms of the appended claims. ~
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