PHYSICO-CHEMICAL INDICATORS OF LALFENA CAYAGE UNDER DIFFERENT MODES OF ITS FERMENTATION
Authors: Mitioglo L .V , Merzlov S. V. , Merzlova G. V. 
Published: October 2023

Dairy and beef farms annually harvest large volumes of alfalfa haylage. Due to violation of the technology of haylage harvesting and its use, a significant amount of this fodder deteriorates. As a result of aerobic deterioration, the haylage becomes unsuitable for animals’ feeding, which in turn requires additional costs and finding ways to its dispose. Uncontrolled rotting of alfalfa haylage has a negative impact on the environment. Effective from an economic and ecological point of view is the method of disposing of spoiled alfalfa haylage by fermenting it with the use of biological preparations to obtain biocompost. The question of methods of composting spoiled alfalfa haylage with the help of domestically produced biodestructors of BTU-CENTER remains unexplored. Therefore, the aim of the scientific and economic work was to establish the physico-chemical parameters of fermented spoiled alfalfa haylage under the action of different doses of the biodestructor produced in Ukraine. The process of fermentation of spoiled haylage with a moisture content of 64-65% was carried out in formed piles, which had a mass of 200 kg each. In the control farms, the fermentation of spoiled feed was carried out by the traditional method without adding biological preparations to it. In the 1st experimental group, spoiled haylage was composted using a domestically produced biodestructor at a dose of 5.0 cm3/t. The alfalfa haylage from the II experimental group was treated with a biopreparation at a dose of 10.0 cm3/t. Alfalfa haylage from the III experimental group was treated with a biodestructor solution at the rate of 20.0 cm3/t. Aeration of haylage in the piles was carried out by periodically moving the biomass once every 8 days. During the experiment, the fermentation temperature was determined for 110 days, and at the end of the study, the mass fraction of crude protein, the content of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Calcium in the fermented biomass of alfalfa haylage was studied. It has been proven that the fermentation temperature of alfalfa haylage biomass varied depending on the dose of the BTU-CENTER biodestructor. When a biodestructor is added to the haylage at a dose of 5.0 cm3/t, the self-heating temperature increases by 13.0% compared to the control one in the 2nd day. The use of a biodestructor at a dose of 20.0 cm3/t during this period allows increasing the temperature by 21.7% compared to the control group. An increase in the temperature of alfalfa haylage in the control and in the experimental piles was noted until the end of the 2nd week of composting. During this period of composting, the highest temperature of spoiled haylage was recorded in the piles. Comparing between the experimental groups, the highest temperature was set in the biomass of the haylage where the BTU-CENTER biodestructor was added at a dose of 20.0 cm3/t. Starting from the 16th day of fermentation, the temperature in the piles decreased. In the control group, the temperature of the alfalfa haylage biomass in the thermophilic mode was adjusted from 10 to 20 days. When using a biodestructor at a dose of 5.0 cm3/t, the duration of the thermophilic regime increases by 8 days. The longest composting of alfalfa haylage in the thermophilic mode was in the III experimental group and lasted 23 days. During fermentation for 110 days, a decrease in the content of crude protein, phosphorus and nitrogen in fermented alfalfa haylage was established in both control and experimental groups. Calcium content in fermented biomass from experimental groups increases to a statistically significant value relatively to the indicator in spoiled haylage before fermentation. Further studies of the content of bacteria in the fermented biomass of spoiled alfalfa haylage using the domestic biodestructor BTU-CENTER are of scientific and practical interest.