Futterwert von Mais-Bohnen-Silagen: Stangen- und Feuerbohnen im Vergleich

Maize for silage is a major forage source for dairy cows with its high energy density, but the protein concentration is low. Therefore intercropping systems with maize and climbing beans, which have the potential to improve the protein- and energy supply from regional grown roughage, were investigated since 2014 in field experiments. Four cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris and two cultivars of P. coccineus were evaluated for their potential in intercropping with maize and their crude nutrient contents were evaluated in comparison with maize. Furthermore defined mixtures of two cultivars of P. vulgaris and two cultivars of P. coccineus with maize were produced to assess their digestibility in sheep. All intercrop silages (IS) had higher crude protein values than maize. The in vivo organic matter digestibility were higher for IS when compared to maize. The metabolisable energy for IS were also higher than for maize silage.