Production of corn plus sunflower forage and its preference as silaged by sheep in Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo

a) Objective. The objective was to evaluate the forage production of maize, maize + sunflower and its preference for sheep as silage. b) Design/methodology/approach. The design in the field was in completely randomized blocks with three replications and in the laboratory in a completely randomized design (Tukey α = 0.05). Sowing was in spring - summer 2020 under rainfed conditions. The treatments were: 100 % corn, 90 % corn + 10 % sunflower, 80 % corn + 20 % sunflower. Forage production was evaluated at 126 days of sowing, it was ensiled and the quality through bromatological analysis. For silage preference, 10 pregnant Hampshire × Suffolk ewes were used with 44.8 kg of live weight along 20 days. c) Results. The 80 % maize + 20% sunflower combination showed higher green forage yield (P<0.001; 28 t ha-1), higher percentage of soluble protein (P<0.01) and higher percentage of lignin (P<0.001; 4.6 %). The sheep preferred the silage with 100 % corn, since it had a lower percentage of non-fibrous carbohydrates (22.2 %), lower acid detergent fiber (35.3 %) and lower neutral detergent fiber (59.4 %). d) Limitations/implications. Sunflower should be established on soils with low numbers of broadleaf plant seeds, because chemical control cannot be applied. e) Findings/conclusions. A greater amount of forage was produced per surface unit whit 80 % corn + 20 % sunflower. The 100 % maize silage was preferred by sheep due to lower percentage of lignin, and higher in vitro digestibility of neutral detergent fiber.