As part of the project "La Silphie Perfoliée : une opportunité nouvelle pour l’agriculture et l’environnement en Wallonie ?" (Cup plant: a new opportunity for agriculture and the environment in Wallonia?) coordinated by CIPF (cipf.be/silphie), the forage potential of this crop has been studied.
Cup plant is a perennial, mainly used for biomethanisation. It could also be used as part of ruminants' diets. In this context, the CRA-W has been experimenting with the introduction of ensiled cup plant in the diets of growing dairy heifers. The trial was carried out in collaboration with the non-profit organisation Fourrages-Mieux, which monitored the silage-making process and determined its feeding value. According to the tests carried out by Fourrages-Mieux, the crop was harvested in several cuts to produce cup plant silage. These trials showed that it is difficult to preserve cup plant in the form of wrapped bales (dry matter content below 35%, high buffering capacity, difficult pre-wilting). A palatability test was then carried out on a group of eight growing dairy heifers (373 ± 55 kg live weight at the end of the test). The trial was divided into three two-week periods: a control period when the heifers were fed a diet composed of corn, grass and alfalfa silages, followed by a period of adaptation to cup plant silage, and finally the cup plant was increased to make up 25% of the diet. The animals were fed a total mixed diet.
The heifers showed good level of desire to eat cup plant diet. Daily dry matter intake was around 9 ± 0.3 kg/heifer during the third period. A large amount of zootechnical data were collected as part of this trial (live weight, individual CH4 emissions, faecal matter collection, etc.) and will shortly be processed in more detail.
Despite cup plant's good palatability, the constraints of cultivation and conservation, as well as its low added value as forage, show that this crop is not ideal for animal feed. However, this plant could serve as supplementary forage in years when forage production is limited by drought.
Funding :
SPW Sustainable Development Directorate, Cabinet of the Environment, Nature, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Animal Welfare.
