title: Short communication: Prediction of mean particle size and proportion of very long fiber particles from simplified sieving results.
abstract: Mean particle size of alfalfa silage and corn silage can be predicted based on material retained above a screen with square-hole diagonal of 9 mm. The regression equation is mean particle length (mm) = 1.16 + 13.00 x cumulative fraction of as-fed mass trapped on or above the 9-mm screen; r2 = 0.89. For mixed rations, the intercept was 0.54 and the slope 11.84, with r2 = 0.78. Using data from the screen with a 5.6-mm diagonal also provided reasonable estimates of mean particle size.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706, USA. learment@wisc.edu
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Armentano
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taysom
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002627:Chemistry, Physical / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D016014:Linear Models; D000455:Medicago sativa / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D012820:Silage; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry*