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Dicoumarol Concentrations and Forage Quality of Sweetclover Forage Treated with Propionic Acid or Anhydrous Ammonia¹

North Dakota State University, Fargo 58105

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to determine if propionic acid (PA) or anhydrous ammonia (NH₃) could prevent spoiling and subsequent dicoumarol formation in sweetclover [Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam.] hay. In Exp. 1, PA at 6, 9 or 12 g/kg of wet hay prevented dicoumarol formation in 417-g samples of sweetclover hay rewetted to 400-g/kg (wet-weight basis) moisture concentration, whereas PA at 3 g/kg did not. In Exp. 2, PA at 10 or 20 g/kg did not prevent formation of toxic dicoumarol concentrations (>20 g/kg of dry matter) in 7-kg samples of 550-and 650-g/kg moisture sweetclover hay. Anhydrous ammonia, however, at 10 or 30 g/kg prevented dicoumarol formation in sweetclover samples of similar size and moisture. Propionic acid and NH₃ were applied to large round bales of sweetclover hay in 1981 and 1982 for Exp. 3. Dicoumarol was not detected in the 1981 bales due to the low (170 g/kg) hay moisture. Bales at 200- and 370-g/kg moisture concentration treated with NH₃ at 10 and 20 g/kg of wet hay, respectively, had less than 9 mg/kg of dicoumarol in 1982. Ammonia at 10 g/kg on 270-g/kg moisture bales and all propionic acid treatments did not prevent occurrence of toxic dicoumarol concentrations. Ammoniation increased (P<.05) the N concentration of sweetclover forage in all experiments. In vitro dry matter disappearance of ammoniated sweetclover hay was similar (P>.05) to forced-air-dried samples of the original hay, suggesting that NH₃ was preserving the forage at its original digestibility. Anhydrous ammonia appears to be a promising preservative for preventing the occurrence of dicoumarol in sweetclover hay and thereby the sweetclover bleeding disease in livestock; however, these results need to be confirmed with further field trials and animal evaluation experiments.

¹ Contribution from the Dept. of Agron. and Vet. Sci., North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, ND 58105 as Journal Paper No. 1363.

² Graduate Research Assistant. Present address: Dept. of Argon., Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA 50011.

³ Dept. of Agron.

⁴ Dept. of Vet. Sci.