Nutritional value and chemical composition of herbal flour

Table 1. Nutritional value and chemical composition of herbal flour

Indicator	Vico-oatmeal	Clover	Alfalfa	Herb
EKE	0,72-0,80	0,80-0,84	0,77-0,86	0,53-0,80
Exchange energy, MJ:
for cattle	8,0	8,41	8,62	8,01
pigs	7,24	7,98	7,73	5,33
Dry matter, g	900	900	900	900
Crude protein, g	165	171	189	99
RP, g	79	99	95	49
NRP, g	86	72	94	50
Digestible protein, g	106	94	119	42
Crude fat, g	33	31	29	18
Crude fiber, g	244	207	211	280
NDK, g	432	366	373	462
BEV, g	407	392	362	409
Sugar, g	70	20	40	50
Amino acids, g:
lysine	6,2	8,7	10,6	4,5
methionine + cystine	5,6	4,8	6,4	4,2
tryptophan	1,8	1,6	2,1	1,0
Macronutrients, mg:
calcium	13,3	14,0	17,3	5,8
phosphorus	3,0	2,9	3,0	3,1
magnesium	3,2	3,0	2,8	3,3
potassium	13	29	30	8
sulfur	1,3	2,3	4,8	1,9
Trace elements, mg:
iron	257	223	167	99
copper	3,2	9,0	8,4	2,9
zinc	24	38	29	23
manganese	71	58	27	66
cobalt	0,26	0,2	0,21	0,66
iodine	0,36	0,35	0,4	0,89
Carotene, mg	140	170	200	120
Vitamins, mg
D, ME	80	80	100	70
E	80	65	93	75
B 1	1,4	2,8	2,3	1,8
B 2	7	14	9	6
B 3	12	24	21	13
B 4	740	600	830	800
B 5	16	21	40	29
B 6	7	6	8	7

It is useful to feed herbal flour to young cattle, sheep, horses, rabbits. It was found that replacing field drying hay with grass flour in the diets of bull calves sharply improves metabolic processes in the body and increases productivity by 12-18%.

Grass flour harvesting and grass cutting technology

The most valuable raw material for the preparation of grass flour and cutting is the green grass of alfalfa, clover and their mixtures with cereal grasses mown in the budding phase. During this period of development, in 1 kg of dry matter, these herbs contain up to 22% protein, more than 300 mg of carotene. Overstretching of grasses sharply reduces their feed value, and, consequently, the quality of grass meal and cutting.

Grass meal preparation and cutting technology includes the following stages: mowing with simultaneous crushing and loading of green mass into vehicles, delivery to the drying unit, drying, granulation (briquetting), packing and storage. In the production of grass cutting, the dry mass at the exit from the drum of the drying unit with the help of a conveyor is fed, bypassing the crusher, into vehicles and, after holding for 48 hours, is sent to the warehouse.

There are two ways to produce grass flour: without wilting and with wilting the cut grass. In the first method, the grass is mowed and crushed with simultaneous loading of the mass into vehicles. The performance of the drying units depends on the degree of crushing of the herbs. Particles up to 3 cm long of grass flour and up to 10 cm cutting should make up at least 85% of the total mass of raw materials. Such raw materials do not need additional grinding before drying, they dehydrate faster; the consumption of fuel is reduced and the productivity of the drying units is increased.

The initial moisture content of the grasses plays a decisive role in the performance of drying units, therefore, the second method of harvesting grass flour with withering grasses in the field has recently become more and more widespread. Withering grasses in the field in good weather for 2-3 hours reduces the moisture content of the green mass by 10-12%. As the moisture decreases during withering, less water will evaporate in the dryer. To obtain, for example, 1 ton of grass flour with a moisture content of 10% from grass with an initial moisture content of 85%, it is necessary to evaporate 5 tons of water, with a moisture content of 75% - about 2.5 tons, and at 65% - about 1.6 tons. increase the productivity of the drying unit and reduce fuel consumption and product cost.

General purpose mowers can be used when cutting grass into windrows. Crimping the grasses allows them to wither more quickly. For the selection, crushing and simultaneous loading of the mass into vehicles, universal mower-conditioners are used. In this case, it is necessary that vehicles are equipped with protective nets, which prevents the blowing of grasses.

Grass should be wilted only in good weather and at a strictly defined time. For each hour of withering herbs in the field, the amount of carotene due to destruction by solar radiation is reduced by 2-3%, so the deadline for withering is 4 hours, and the humidity should be at least 70%.

The preparation of the grass cut and the subsequent distribution of it to the animals can be fully mechanized. The cutting is free-flowing, mixes well with all types of feed, so it is easy to prepare complete feed mixtures from it in loose and briquetted form. One of the disadvantages of herbal cutting is that it takes up a lot of volume during storage. The weight of 1 m 3 of cutting after drying is 70-80 kg. Therefore, it is advisable to briquet the cutting, which reduces the volume by 6-7 times. In the process of briquetting, the content of carotene decreases slightly, but the rest of the nutrients are completely preserved.

To preserve the nutrients, the herb flour is granulated and the cut is briquetted. Grass flour entering the granulator usually has a moisture content of 8-10% and is poorly granulated, and the finished granules crumble. Therefore, in the mixer of the granulator, the flour is moistened with up to 13-15% water or a carotene-stabilizing solution; thus the granules have a high moisture content. However, in the cooling column, under the influence of a powerful air flow, they cool down and at the same time lose 2-3% of moisture. The stored granules have a moisture content of about 10-12%.

The quality of the pellets can be determined visually. Good granules after cooling are dense, dry, smooth, shiny, 20-30 mm long, break with difficulty. Granules with a moisture content below 8% are easily kneaded in the hand, small (up to 10 mm), among them there are a lot of dusty crumbs, which are sent to secondary granulation. Granules with a moisture content of more than 12% are rough to the touch, without a specific "polished" shine, they are easily kneaded in the hands; put in storage, quickly grow moldy and deteriorate (sometimes completely).

For briquetting grass cutting, briquetting presses OKS-2, OPK-2, a press briquetting machine PVSh-2 (stamp) and a press briquetting machine of the ring type are used. The strength of the briquettes depends on the humidity and cutting temperature during pressing. At a moisture content of less than 10%, the leaves and stems of dried plants become brittle, and the finished briquettes crumble. The strength of briquettes is significantly reduced at a moisture content of over 18%, and briquettes with a moisture content of more than 17% become moldy during storage. Good preservation of the quality of briquettes is achieved when the optimum cutting moisture content ranges from 13-16%.

Methods for storing and stabilizing carotene in herbal flour

Proper storage of herbal flour and cutting is the key to reducing the loss of nutrients and, above all, carotene. The rate of carotene oxidation in artificially dried feeds largely depends on the physical condition and moisture content of the feed, the availability of oxygen in the air, solar radiation, ambient temperature and other factors. The breakdown of carotene can be significantly reduced by adjusting the influence of these factors.

Grass flour when leaving the cyclone of the drying unit has a temperature of about 40-45 ° C, and when granulating or briquetting cutting, the temperature of the finished feed rises to 75-80 ° C. If these feeds are not actively cooled, then the granules in bags stacked in the warehouse cool slowly, and the rate of carotene degradation will be high. The warehouse for permanent storage of artificially dried feed should be dry and dark, and the relative humidity should not exceed 70-75%. In overdried grass flour, carotene is destroyed much faster than in flour with a moisture content of about 10-12%.

Grass cuttings, briquettes and pellets keep well in regular hay barns and other storage facilities. When stored for 5 months. the protein content remains almost unchanged or drops slightly. Monosaccharides and carotene are most susceptible to destruction. Storing herbal flour in the form of granules and briquettes, compared to loose feed, provides a higher preservation of carotene.

Of all the known ways to increase the preservation of carotene in grass flour and cutting, the most effective treatment of feed with antioxidants (antioxidants). The most active antioxidants are santoquin (ethoxyquin) and diludin, as well as butyloxytoluene and butyloxyanisole at a dose of 20 g per centner of feed. For example, the introduction of 20 g of pure santoquin or 40 g in the form of an aqueous emulsion per 1 centner of herbal flour reduces the oxidation of carotene during storage by 1.5-2 times. Oxidants are added to grass flour and cutting in the granulation and briquetting process.

The loss of carotene can be significantly slowed down and reduced if the air oxygen contained between the grass meal particles is displaced and replaced by inert gases such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide and others. Studies carried out in laboratory and industrial conditions have shown that carotene in grass flour is preserved better at negative temperatures, in an atmosphere of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, as well as when 0.5% sodium pyrosulfite is added to the flour (Table 2).

Table 2. Preservation of carotene in herbal flour with different storage methods

Storage methods	Carotene content (mg / kg)
	Before storing	After 2 months of storage	After 12 months of storage
In stock	197	88	36
In the refrigerator compartment	197	140	96
In a nitrogen atmosphere	197	147	134
In an atmosphere of carbon dioxide	197	147	112
With sodium pyrosulfite	197	143	125

At the All-Russian Research Institute of Animal Breeding, the possibility of using gamma-irradiation to stabilize easily digestible nutrients (sugar, amine nitrogen) and carotene in grass flour has been theoretically substantiated and practically developed. The carotene content in the irradiated loose grass meal (after 8 months of storage in the warehouse) was 16% higher than in the control (without irradiation). At the same time, the amount of carotene in the test samples was similar in the amount of it in the samples stored in refrigerated chambers at low temperatures. The preservation of sugar and amino acids in irradiated flour is approximately 2 times higher than in the control. The sugar content after 8 months of storage in the experimental sample was 7.2%, in the control (without irradiation) - 3.8%; the content of amine nitrogen, respectively, 0.45 and 0.23% in absolutely dry matter. The optimal dose of gamma irradiation of grass meal was from 0.1 to 10 krad.

At present, agriculture requires universal high-performance installations for irradiating feed and other objects. Along with the processing of dry feed, such installations can be effective for obtaining high quality silage or haylage with a certain amount of organic acids, sugar, pH value, as well as for increasing the nutritional value of various roughage and straw-grain complete mixtures for animals.

The use of industrial gamma installations for irradiation will allow stabilizing nutrients and carotene in herbal flour in the process of mechanized harvesting by the flow method in the conditions of complexes.

Grading the quality of herbal flour

Grass flour and cutting are usually introduced into the diets of farm animals and poultry as an additive to cover the deficiency of certain nutrients and vitamins. The quality of these feeds must strictly comply with the requirements of GOST 18691-88 (Table 3). Depending on the composition and nutritional value, herbal flour is divided into three classes.

The quality of herbal flour and cutting is determined by its appearance, paying attention to the color, smell, grinding size, and granule size. In addition, in cutting determine the content of carotene, protein, fiber and moisture (see table. 3).

Grass flour is fed to all types of farm animals, and grass cuttings are fed to cattle, sheep, horses and rabbits. The optimal rates for giving grass flour and cutting: for cows - flour no more than 3 kg, cutting 5 kg, for young cattle - flour 0.3-1.0, cutting 0.5-2.0; for adult sheep - flour 0.3-0.5, cutting 0.6-0.7, young animals - flour 0.07-0.1, cutting 0.08-0.2; for adult pigs - flour 0.2-0.5, young animals - flour 0.05-0.2; for adult horses - flour 2-3, cutting 3-4; for adult rabbits - flour 0.2, cutting 0.3 kg; for poultry - flour 10-15 g per day. Grass flour is added to complete feed for poultry and piglets in the amount of 2-7%, in compound feed for pregnant and lactating sows - 5-10% by weight.

Table 3. Grass flour quality and cutting

Indicator	Class
	I	II	III
Color and smell	Dark green or green without signs of burning, as well as musty, moldy, putrid and other foreign odors
Humidity, %:
flour	9-12	9-12	9-12
pellets and briquettes	9-14	9-14	9-14
cutting	10-15	10-15	10-15
Mass fraction of crude protein in dry matter,%, not less	19	16	13
Mass fraction of crude fiber in dry matter,%, no more	23	26	30
Mass concentration of carotene in dry matter, mg / kg, not less	210	160	100
Grinding size of flour:
residue on a sieve with holes of 5 mm,%	Not allowed
residue on a sieve with holes of 3 mm,%	5	5	5
Mass concentration of metal-magnetic impurities:
particles larger than 2 mm and with sharp edges	Not allowed
particles up to 2 mm in size in 1 kg of feed, mg, no more	50	50	50
Mass fraction of sand,%, no more	0,7	0,7	0,7
Diameter of granules, mm	4,7-12,7	4,7-12,7	4,7-12,7
Granule length, mm	No more than two diameters

Conditions affecting the quality of herbal flour

The quality of grass flour is decisively influenced by the nutritional value of the raw material, early harvesting of herbs (young plants have more leaves, in which the concentration of protein is 2-3 times, and carotene is 5-6 times higher than in the stems), the drying rate. The moisture content of herbal flour should be in the range of 9 - 12%. The quality of the herbal meal also depends on the degree of grinding of the plants. The cutting length must be up to 30 mm. Long cuts will cause uneven drying and reduce the performance of the dryer.

The nutrient content of herbal flour also depends on the storage conditions. Flour is stored mainly in bulk or in granules. It should be borne in mind that in the first case, the loss of carotene in the process is 50-60%, while in granules this figure is determined by 4-9%. For better preservation of carotene, various synthetic antioxidants (santochin, agidol-1) or technical fat can be used. Grass flour should be dark green or green in color, with no signs of burning or musty or musty odors.

Grass flour can replace up to 20% of grain feed in the diets of ruminants, up to 10% in the diets of pigs and up to 3-5% in the ration of poultry from the total nutritional value.

In recent years, such a progressive method of feed preparation as dehydration of grass on high-temperature dryers, flour preparation and cutting has been widely introduced into practice. The results of scientific research and practice of advanced farms show that this method reduces the loss of nutrients during harvesting and storage, significantly increases the yield of feed units and protein per hectare.

In our country, about 6.5 million tons of grass meal is harvested, which is widely used in the feed industry, as well as for feeding poultry, pigs and young cattle. Harvesting and cutting of grass grows every year.

The herb, dried at high temperatures for making vitamin flour, is an important source of protein, vitamins and minerals. 1 kg of it contains up to 0.85 feed, units, 100 - 140 g of digestible protein and 180 - 250 mg of carotene.

Rice. 1. High-protein vitamin feed in the form of briquettes and granules prepared using progressive technology

The vegetation phase of plants is essential in the nutritional value of herbal flour. The optimal phase for harvesting the green mass of legumes, in particular alfalfa, is the budding stage (Fig. 1).

Getting several cuttings from crops of perennial grasses during the summer and autumn months makes it possible to dramatically increase the yield of nutrients per unit area (Table 1). With the artificial drying of perennial grasses from 1 hectare, protein and nitrogen-free extractives can be obtained 1.5 - 2 times, and carotene 4 - 5 times more than with conventional drying of grass for hay.

Table 1
Comparative efficiency of harvesting haylage, silage, grass meal and hay from a clover-timothy mixture (with a yield of 160 c / ha)

Indicator	Haylage (50% dry matter)	Silage (25% dry matter)	Field drying hay	Herbal flour
Total loss of dry matter during procurement and storage,%	13,5	15,3	20,6	6,7
The amount of carotene in 1 kg of dry matter, mg	36	65	28,0	122
Output from 1 hectare:
feed units	28,8	27,4	23,0	34,7
percentage of the original green mass	73	68,5	57,5	87,0
digestible protein, c	3,6	3,7	3,1	4,0
carotene, g	350	250	100	520

In the complex of activities related to the production of grass flour, one of the important problems is the preservation of carotene during the drying process and during its subsequent storage. With conventional methods of storing grass flour (for example, in bulk in a warehouse), a significant part of carotene is destroyed, after 5-6 months its losses reach 50-60%. Light has a particularly negative effect on the carotene content in herbal flour, so it should be stored in a darkened room. The optimal amount of moisture in grass flour is 10 - 12%. Overdrying flour leads to increased decomposition of carotene, with a moisture content of more than 15% flour becomes moldy.

Studies show that carotene in herbal flour is less destroyed at low temperatures, in an atmosphere of nitrogen or carbon dioxide, as well as when 0.5% sodium pyrosulfite is added to the flour. Special antioxidants added to herbal flour also prevent carotene from oxidizing. The best results were obtained with the addition of 0.015% of the mass of santochin flour (80 - 85% of carotene is retained for 6 months).

Storing flour in cemented buried trenches or pits is easier and more efficient than storing flour in paper bags. VIZ found that the average monthly loss of carotene in grass flour during storage in a trench is 4.3%, and during storage in a warehouse - 9%.

During the construction of large industrial livestock complexes, as well as the reconstruction of existing farms, it is necessary to revise the structure of feed, using such types that would allow more efficient use of the means of complex mechanization in their preparation and distribution.

In this regard, research aimed at developing a technology for the preparation and storage of cost-effective, highly nutritious complete feeds in a dehydrated form is of considerable interest. In particular, it was found that the preparation of feed in granular or briquetted form allows you to eliminate the cost of manual labor in feed production and at the same time significantly increase the yield of nutrients from a unit of area occupied by fodder crops.

The study of the effectiveness of the use of briquetted and granulated feed in cattle diets began in the 60s. Experiments of the All-Russian Research Institute of feed, Donskoy Agricultural Institute, VIZH and other scientific institutions have shown that briquetted and granulated feed, enriched with the necessary additives, provide high gains in live weight of young fattening animals, increase the milk productivity of cows and the efficiency of feed use.

The main source of raw materials for the production of this type of feed is the green mass of natural and seeded perennial and annual grasses. As an additional source of raw materials, we recommend winter rapeseed, fodder cabbage, crop and vegetable waste (tops of fodder root crops and potatoes, a leaf of table cabbage), as well as waste from the food industry.

In the forest zone and the northern part of the forest-steppe, grass flour is prepared mainly from perennial grasses. They provide high yields of green mass, suitable in terms of quality and technological parameters for the production of feed on an industrial basis. In these zones, red clover is best suited for the production of briquetted and pelleted feed, which accumulates a lot of protein in the aboveground mass and contains a large amount of carotene, vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids. Clover is mowed in the stalking phase at a plant height of 40-50 cm, thus obtaining three mows of green mass during the growing season. At this time, the green mass of clover consists mainly of leaves, which, in comparison with the stems, contain 2 - 3 times more protein, protein, minerals, 5 - 10 times more vitamins and 2 - 3 times less fiber.

Grass cutting or flour made from clover in the phase of plant stemming contains 18.0 - 25.0% crude protein and over 300 mg of carotene per 1 kg of absolutely dry matter; the fiber content does not exceed 22 - 24%. As the growing season progresses, the quality of the feed decreases markedly. So, in the grass flour from red clover, mown at the end of budding - the beginning of flowering, the protein content decreases to 14 - 17%, carotene to 228 - 243 mg per 1 kg, and the amount of fiber increases to 27 - 28%.

On fertile, well-calcified soils (pH 7 - 8), high yields in these zones are brought by alfalfa (variety Severnaya hybrid), which for two or three mows gives 400 - 500 c / ha of green mass, and on irrigation - 700 - 800 c / ha and more. The first mowing of alfalfa is carried out from the beginning of budding to the beginning of flowering of plants.

In the forest zone, cereal grasses give more stable yields of green mass. In the early phases of the growing season, they receive high-quality raw materials for the production of cutting or flour with a high content of nutrients. Awnless fire, hedgehog, meadow fescue, meadow timothy are widely used for the preparation of briquettes and granules. Also promising for the early link of the raw material conveyor are meadow foxtail and reed canary. Perennial grasses, when mowed before the start of panicle sweeping, give three mows.

In the experiments of the All-Russian Research Institute of fodder, an awnless fire, a hedgehog and a reed canary (with the introduction of 180 kg of nitrogen per hectare - 60 kg for each mowing and mowing at the end of the stemming phase) provided 450-500 c / ha of green mass, and the collection absolutely dry matter reached 96.8 - 105.1 c / ha. The protein content in the green mass of cereal grasses at the end of the tube emergence phase was 18%, and at the beginning of panicle formation it decreased to 8 - 12%, while the amount of fiber increased to 30%. Yields of perennial grasses are high when sowing clover with alfalfa. The All-Russian Research Institute of Forage, on average, for three years received a harvest of green mass of clover mixed with cereals (at the end of the exit into the tube of cereals and stemming of clover), equal to 380 - 423 centners, and the collection of dry matter reached 77 - 86 centners / ha.

A significant amount of raw materials in the forest zone and the northern forest-steppe comes from hayfields. According to the All-Russian Research Institute of Forage, sown irrigated hayfields with grass stand, even on dry lands, yield 120-140 centners per hectare of dry mass for three to five cuts. Irrigation and abundant nitrogen fertilization ensure an even supply of green mass throughout the season. With three-mowing use, the yield is distributed approximately as follows: 33 - 37% of green mass - from the first cut, 31 - 38 - from the second and 22 - 34% - from the third. Without nitrogen fertilization and irrigation, about half of the crop is taken for the first cut.

In order to ensure high yields of green mass and its uniform supply, it is important to choose the right types of herbs and their mixtures. In the central regions of the forest zone, for example, the economic ripeness of individual crops occurs in the following sequence: meadow foxtail, hedgehog, then awnless bonfire, meadow fescue and grass stands with the participation of these species. With such a set of herbs and their mixtures, the duration of harvesting each cycle can last about 20 days.

Improved natural grass stands of floodplain and other types of meadows with sufficient moisture are an important source of raw materials for briquetted and pelleted feed. A significant amount of raw materials - 150-200 c / ha of high quality green mass - can be obtained due to its surplus on cultivated pastures. It should be borne in mind that in the spring about 24 - 30% of the area of ​​such pastures will be mowed.

For the preparation of grass flour and cutting from annual grasses, first of all, leguminous crops are used - winter and spring vetch, peas, lupines, soybeans, rank, sown both in pure form and in a mixture with cereals - oats, barley, Sudanese grass, annual ryegrass and others. The input of green mass of annual crops is easy to regulate with the help of different sowing dates. The yield of green mass of vetch-oatmeal, pea-oatmeal, chino-oat mixtures in the budding phase of legumes and the beginning of panicle formation in cereals is usually 200 centners per hectare or more. When cultivating these mixtures for the preparation of granules and briquettes, it is necessary to increase the seeding rate of the seeds of the legume component so that the ratio of legumes and cereals is 2: 1.

The most appropriate period for using legume and legume-cereal mixtures is the period from the budding phase to the beginning of the formation of beans. The time of the onset of these phases falls on about July, when the first cut of legumes has already been carried out.

For the production of raw materials in the late ripening period, you can take the tops of potatoes, fodder root crops (in terms of absolutely dry matter, it contains 14-19% protein and 12-14% fiber), fodder cabbage, winter rape and other late-ripening crops. Fodder cabbage and winter rapeseed produce 500 - 600 c / ha of green mass.

In the southern part of the forest-steppe and steppe zone, the main raw crops are alfalfa grown both under irrigation conditions and on dry land, as well as sainfoin. Of the annual crops, in early spring, winter rye is used in pure form and in a mixture with winter vetch, in summer - Sudanese grass, sweet clover, vetch, pea and chin mixtures with oats or barley, a mixture of Sudanese grass with rank or soybeans, root crop tops, especially sugar beets , aftermath of perennial herbs. Alfalfa yield on irrigation with five to seven mows reaches 700 - 1000 centners per hectare of green mass.

When sowing alfalfa, early and later mowing alternates in order to prevent weakening of the plants and to ensure a uniform supply of high-quality green mass for drying throughout the season. The quality of the green mass of alfalfa harvested in the same developmental phase changes during the growing season: the protein content in dry matter increases from mowing to mowing, and the fiber decreases. This allows alfalfa to be used starting from the third cut at the beginning of flowering, and in the fourth cut in the middle of flowering.

Alfalfa-cereal mixtures are good raw materials for making briquettes and granules. Herbal flour from grass mixtures of the first year of life meets the requirements of the state standard and contains in 1 kg of absolutely dry matter 17.5% of protein, 25 - 26% of fiber and 303 mg of carotene.

In semi-desert and desert zones, it is advisable to organize the production of complete feed in irrigated areas. Alfalfa is also the main source of raw materials here. With regular watering, it gives four cuts or more, which allows you to load the drying units from May to September. Along with sowing alfalfa in its pure form, it is also cultivated in a mixture with cereals - hedgehog, perennial ryegrass, meadow fescue. In addition, in these areas, wild herbs in their pure form, mixed with alfalfa and other components, give a good effect.

The main indicators of the quality of granules are their relative humidity, crumbling and carotene content.

The relative humidity of the granules is determined by drying a 5 g portion in an oven. An electric moisture meter (“Super-Conti” brand) is used to control it; the determination time is 72 s. It can be installed in the flow and used for automatic control of the air conditioning system.

The relative humidity of the granules can be judged both by their appearance and by the amount of non-granulated flour coming out of the press: if it is normal, then the compressed granules have a smooth surface, and the amount of non-granulated flour does not exceed 5%; above the norm, the granules have a rough outer surface. In this case, the amount of moisture in the air conditioning system should be reduced.

If a large amount of non-granulated flour comes out of the press and the surface of the granules is shiny, then their relative humidity is below normal. The amount of moisture supplied to air conditioning must be increased. When adjusting humidity, it is necessary to take into account that the time of passage of the material through the mixer and the press is within 2 - 3 minutes, and only after this time it is possible to check the adjustment results.

The main indicator of the strength of granules is their crumbling. In accordance with the rules accepted in most countries, the crumbling of the granules is determined 1 hour after they leave the cooling column.

To control crumbling, 500 g of conditioned granules are taken and loaded into a special device, which is a metal box in the form of a parallelepiped measuring 300x300x100 mm. A plate with a height of 30 - 35 mm is fixed inside the box along the diagonal of the side wall. An axis is attached to this wall, which drives the device into rotational motion at a speed of 50 rpm. Test time - 10 minutes. After that, the entire contents of the box are poured onto a sieve with holes equal to 0.8 of the pellet diameter and sieved. Crumbling is determined by the formula:

K = (C1 - C2) / C1 * 100%

where C1 is the weight of the sample - 500 g;
C2 is the mass of granules remaining on the sieve, g.

Determination of the carotene content of granules is especially important when conditioning flour with steam. It is necessary to ensure that the loss of carotene during granulation of herbal flour does not exceed 5%. If these losses are outside the normal range, it is necessary to reduce the temperature of heating flour with steam and increase the air supply to the cooling column.

Physiological, biochemical and zootechnical studies have shown that feeding granulated and briquetted mixtures to ruminants can increase their productivity and save up to 20-50% of concentrated and other feed. According to the main zootechnical indicators (eatability, consumption of feed and nutrients per unit of production, animal productivity, etc.), granulated and briquetted feeds are not inferior to traditional ones - hay, silage, haylage. However, their effectiveness largely depends on the quality of the feedstock, the physical and mechanical properties of briquettes and granules, and the balance of the diet for the main nutrients. In this regard, for granulation and briquetting, it is necessary to use high-quality raw materials, to include macro- and microelements and other missing biologically active and nutrients in the mixtures, thus creating a complete feed.

The digestibility of nutrients largely depends on the size of the feed particles: the smaller the particle, the lower the digestibility. For cattle, the optimal particle size of the coarse component of the feed mixture is 3 - 5 cm. The critical minimum particle size of the coarse component in the feed mixture for cows is considered 0.65 cm. The use of a feed mixture of smaller particles leads to a noticeable decrease in milk fat content. In granules, as studies of the All-Russian Research Institute of feed have shown, the specified particle size cannot be achieved: their average size does not exceed 0.5 cm. In this regard, it is advisable for cows to prepare not granules, but briquettes.

It should be borne in mind that if the pellets are fed in addition to a basic diet of roughage and succulent feed, particle size is not important. To increase the average particle size, straw is added to the granules in an amount of 30-50% by weight. The eatability of straw in the composition of the pellets is significantly increased, which allows it to be used more efficiently.

Particularly effective are feeding with granulated and briquetted mixtures in the pasture period of highly productive cows with a daily milk yield of more than 20 kg of milk. In the diet for sheep, pellets and briquettes can be 80 - 100% and do not require any additional preparation for feeding. It is only important to provide free access to water for animals.

In dairy complexes, as experimental data show, it is better to include pelleted and briquetted feed in the diet in an amount of 40 - 60% (in terms of nutritional value), taking into account the physiological state and productivity of cows.

With a high specific gravity in the diet of granules and briquettes, it is necessary to feed roughage (hay, straw) in the amount of 2 - 3 kg per head per day. For highly productive cows, at the same time, root and tuber crops, silage, and haylage are introduced into the diet.

The use of briquetted and pelleted feeds allows increasing live weight gain in fattened animals by 15-25%, increasing milk yields by 5-10%, reducing feed costs per unit of livestock products by 5-10%, and reducing feed losses by 20-30%.

According to VIZH, the average daily milk yield of cows when fed with straw-grain granules from barley (40% of the nutritional value of the ration) in combination with silage was 0.9 kg higher, and feed costs were 7.7% lower compared to the usual ration (hay, silage, root crops, concentrates). In the experiments of the All-Russian Research Institute of feed, the costs per 1 kg of milk when feeding with granules and an economic ration were, respectively, 0.77 and 0.87 feed, units, 75 and 111.8 g of digestible protein, 229 and 350 g of concentrates. When grazing on a cultivated pasture, feeding with granules allowed replacing up to 50% of concentrates with straw or grass cutting and reducing the average monthly decrease in milk yield from 9.2 to 4.5 - 5.9%.

Heifers raised from 3 months of age on pelleted feed reached a live weight of 396 kg at 18 months of age, while control animals at the same age - only 379 kg. Feeding the bull calves with granulated feed made it possible to obtain 800 - 1200 g of average daily weight gain per head, reduce feed consumption by 15 - 25% and reduce labor costs for production by 2 - 2.8 times (VIZh data).

One of the advantages of pelleted and briquetted feed is their high consumption. So, the experiments of the Donskoy Agricultural Institute have established that the eatenability of pellets by sheep reaches 98 - 100%, while when feeding separately, their waste is 20 - 25%. As a result, the additional costs for their granulation are fully paid off. In similar experiments on sheep (Kyrgyz Research Institute of Animal Husbandry), the feed intake in the experimental group was 93%, in the control (in bulk) - 77%; the live weight of bright birds at the age of 12 - 12.5 months, respectively, reached 42.3 and 36.6 kg.

According to the results of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Sheep and Goat Breeding (VNIIOK), feeding the sheep with granulated fodder significantly increased the weight gain (by 64%) and the shearing of wool (by 16%).

All-Russian Fodder Research Institute found that in the production of briquettes and granules, the yield of fodder units in comparison with making hay in the field increases by an average of 70%, digestible protein - almost 1.5 times, and carotene - more than 6 times. At the same time, from crops that are usually taken for the preparation of only coarse and succulent feed (perennial and annual grasses, silage crops, root crops), practically concentrated feed is obtained. The cheapest pelleted feeds are those for the preparation of which inexpensive ingredients are used - perennial grasses and forage crops, harvested by the threshless method. When sugar beet and potato granules are included in the composition, their cost increases sharply.

The least labor-consuming (0.11 man-hour per 1 centner of feed, unit) turned out to be the production of granules according to a recipe, including components that require less costs for drying, for example, with a large specific weight of straw and grain fodder. More labor is spent on the preparation of granules from perennial herbs (0.19-0.36 man-h).

Experiments carried out at the All-Russian Research Institute of feed have shown that when granules are introduced into the diet of cows, the cost of feed per 1 quintal of milk decreases. So, if on the control (standard ration) the cost of feed was 9.54 rubles. per 1 centner of milk, then when feeding granules - 7.57 - 8.30 rubles, or 13 - 21% lower. Thanks to this, the profit from the sale of milk increases by 19.5 - 30.9%.

VIZH conducted a series of experiments on the comparative assessment of the fodder merits of ordinary field-dried hay and grass briquettes prepared from the same initial mass - clover-timothy mixture (yield - 165 c / ha). It turned out that briquetting significantly increases the yield of feed units and individual nutrients from 1 hectare of sown area: ordinary field dried hay - 24.1 feed units, digestible protein - 3.2 carotene - 0.15 mg; herbal briquettes - 36.6 feed, 4.1 units of digestible protein, 0.57 carotene; accordingly, the nutritional value of 1 kg of dry matter is 0.6 and 0.8 feed, units, the amount of carotene in 1 kg of dry matter is 26 and 127 mg; sugar-protein ratio - 0.2 and 0.75. The new technology reduces the loss of nutrients not only during harvesting, but also during storage and transportation of feed: dry matter and feed units (compared to conventional hay harvesting methods) - 1.8 times digestible protein - 2.5 times, carotene - 6.2 times, sugar - 100 times (Table 2).

Briquetted feeds have almost all the advantages of pelleted feeds, and at the same time they compare favorably with them in that, in terms of structure and shape, they more meet the physiological needs of ruminants, primarily dairy cows. Pellets should not be added to cattle diets in large quantities, and herbal briquettes can form the basis of the diet.

Briquettes are prepared from the vegetative mass of grain fodder crops cultivated for fodder purposes. In this case, their threshless cleaning is used in the phase of milky-wax ripeness. The collected grain-herbal mixture is called monoform. VIZH and VIESH, on the basis of preliminary comprehensive studies on the development of technology for the production of briquetted monofoods from grain fodder crops, proposed the first samples of such feeds from barley in the phase of milky-wax ripeness.

table 2
Loss of nutrients during harvesting and 10-month storage of field drying hay and grass briquettes,%

Nutrients	Field drying hay			Herbal briquettes
	when harvesting	during storage	total losses	when harvesting	during storage	total losses
Losses:
dry matter	8,7	12,6	21,3	1,2	5,7	6,9
feed units	18,9	24,2	43,1	1,8	11,7	13,5
digestible protein	14,0	19,0	33,0	5,7	7,7	13,4
Sahara	1,2	71,4	72,6	0,4	0,3	0,7
carotene	48,0	39,0	87,0	2,0	12,0	14,0

In this phase of the growing season, as shown by the analysis data, briquettes contain 90% dry matter, the nutritional value of 1 kg is 0.8 feed. units Dry matter is rich in protein (12.5%) and other nutrients.

Along with briquetting, such feeds are also prepared in the form of granules. Feeding granules in combination with a small amount of roughage makes it possible to increase the intensity of raising animals, significantly reduce the consumption of feed, especially protein, per unit of live weight. This type of feeding is well enough studied, and it can be recommended for widespread introduction into practice in the rearing and fattening of young cattle.

The technological process for the production of complete briquetted and granular feed mixtures includes the following operations: mowing, chopping herbs, transportation, artificial dehydration of the mass, dosing, mixing, pressing and cooling of flour.

For mowing and grinding, mowers KSK-100, KUF-1.8, E-280 are used. For preliminary drying of the mass in the field, mowers-conditioners KPV-3,0 and E-301 are used, and for selection and grinding - KSK-100 and E-280, equipped with pick-ups. Raw materials are transported on tractors with PSE-12.5 trailers or on other vehicles equipped with mesh sides and, preferably, roofs. In the process of dewatering, drum dryers such as SB-1.5, AVM-1.5 and twin units AVM-0.65 are advisable. It is recommended to equip dryers with mechanized, buried green mass receivers.

For the purpose of mixing and dispensing the components of complete mixtures, including crushed grain, the OKTs-ZO units are used. If it is necessary to introduce grass flour, it is fed into the receiving hoppers of these units by pneumatic conveying devices. Grass cutting with a length of 1 - 3 cm can be mixed with the grain component and dry additives using horizontal mixing conveyors of the TK-5 type with a capacity of up to 3.5 tons per hour. In the factories of complete feed developed by the All-Russian Research Institute of feed, the auger of this conveyor serves as a mixer. To do this, increase the number of its revolutions. Chain conveyors equipped with buckets with a capacity of about 3 liters feed briquettes and pellets into storage hoppers.

Briquetting and granulation are performed by briquetting presses of two types: rotary with annular dies and reciprocating stamping presses. Granulation is the most mastered operation technological process... Granulators such as OGM and DG are reliable and high-performance machines. In the process of briquetting and granulating, especially when using cereal grasses, the temperature of briquettes and granules exceeds the ambient temperature by 30 - 40 ° C, so they must be cooled. To reduce the temperature of briquettes, the All-Russian Research Institute of Feed has developed vertical conveyors with a length of 12 m and fans of the SVM-5 type installed in storage bins.

On farms where there are no pressing machines, loose cutting for cattle is prepared from artificially dried grasses. At the same time, from the crushing units, cutting with the help of fans, the rotors of which are equipped with throwing blades, bypassing the crushers, is fed into covered tractor trailers of the PTS-40 or 2-PTS-A-887A type with a body volume of 40 - 45 m 3. The feed is kept for 10 - 12 hours, then transported and loaded into the warehouse using TPE-type pneumatic conveyors or TZK-type belt conveyors. Cutting as a result of separation in the air flow often accumulates in one place, forming a self-heating center, therefore, when using pneumatic conveyors, to evenly distribute the mass, you need to change the position of the deflectors.

Storage methods for briquetted and granulated feeds depend on their purpose, quality, and storage duration. Complete briquettes and granules containing a large amount of carotene, 1.5 - 2 times higher than the needs of animals, can be stored in a barn-type room in bulk with a height of 3 - 4 m. The granules are also stored in silo containers at a relative humidity of 80%, the temperature of the granules is 20 ° C with a moisture content of 12.5% ​​or packed in bags. Often, feed is placed in ordinary warehouses and in attics in barns, loading it with a TZK-type belt conveyor. Briquettes and granules are fed to the distribution conveyor from the receiving device. For additional cooling and maintaining the required temperature of briquetted and granulated feed, it is recommended to use floor units designed for grain ventilation.

In order to preserve carotene in briquettes and granules, some antioxidants (Santoquin, Diludin) are introduced into grass flour, cutting or feed mixture at the rate of 200 g per 1 ton of feed. Antioxidants make it possible to reduce the loss of carotene by almost half. When stored for more than 6 months, briquettes and granules should be stored in hermetically sealed storages, the air from which is displaced by an inert gas. An oxygen-free storage environment can also be created by placing freshly cut green mass (5% of the total mass) on top of the feed.

Granulated and briquetted feeds must meet the following basic requirements: in terms of nutritional value, correspond to typical rations for certain age groups and types of farm animals, retaining the nutrients of the original feed for at least 6 months. The introduced mineral substances (trace elements, vitamins, etc.) must be distributed evenly. The content of impurities (dirt, sand) - no more than 0.5%. The presence of harmful, toxic substances in granules and briquettes is unacceptable.

The permissible density of granules and briquettes for ruminants is no more than 600 - 800 kg per 1 m 3, the diameter of the granules is 12 - 20 mm, and the average length of roughage particles is not less than 8 - 10 mm. Cylindrical briquettes have a diameter of no more than 60 mm, cubic briquettes - 40x40 mm.

The feeding rates of granulated and briquetted feeds are determined in each case, taking into account the species and group of animals, the direction and level of productivity, the composition and usefulness of the feed. For example, in cattle fattening complexes, two types of animal feeding are used: in winter - silage-concentrate and silage-silage-root crops. In the presence of these types of feeding, granules or briquettes are used as an energy-protein-mineral supplement, replenishing the diet with energy, protein and minerals that are missing in the main feed.

In the summer, when grazing animals on a cultivated pasture, it is advisable to feed special granulated and briquetted additives, taking into account the type of grass stand, its botanical composition, the grazing cycle and, in this regard, the content of nutrients in the green mass. Thus, the new feed preparation technology - pelletizing and briquetting - significantly increases the efficiency of their use both in fattening animals and in dairy cattle breeding, provides a sharp decrease in losses and an increase in the yield of nutrients. The All-Russian Research Institute of Feed found that in the production of briquettes and granules (compared to making hay in the field), the yield of feed units increases by an average of 70%, digestible protein - almost 1.5 times, and carotene - more than 6 times. At the same time, from crops that are usually used for the preparation of only coarse and succulent feed (perennial and annual grasses, silage crops, root crops), practically concentrated feed is obtained.

Cost savings in the production of briquetted and pelleted feed for cattle can be achieved by prior short-term wilting of grasses in the field, especially if this also involves crushing. With withering, the loss of nutrients is negligible, and the costs of transportation and drying are greatly reduced. So, when drying herbs with a moisture content of 85% to obtain 1 ton of flour with a moisture content of 10%, the AVM-1.5 unit consumes 470 kg of liquid fuel, and when drying herbs with a moisture content of 70% - only kg, or 2.6 times less.

The main food for cattle raised on farms is special animal feed. The rate of weight gain of livestock and even the taste of meat depends on the quality of nutrition. Considering that in Russia, many are engaged in cows, as well as feed Russian production for them are very necessary. The production of herbal flour is especially beneficial.

To increase the sales of your products, it is necessary to adhere to the established standards () in the manufacture.

A little about the documents

Doing business legally involves registration... Fits . To formalize the production of animal feed, collect some documents:

• articles of association;
• founding agreement (concluded between those who create the company);
• application for state registration (Р11001).

In addition, pay the state duty in the amount of 4,000 rubles.

Submit these documents to the tax office. Your application for starting a business will be considered within 5 days.

To wholesale feed, get quality certificate... This requires:

• analysis of samples;
• veterinary certificate;
• a package of documents, including documents on business registration;
• application for Rospotrebnadzor for obtaining a certificate.

Certification takes about 30 days.

Business focus

The production of herbal flour in granules as a business is focused on agricultural organizations and farms. According to the latest data, they number 11,225,000 and 979,000, respectively, head of cattle.

It includes:

• cows;
• bulls, bulls;
• oxen;
• calves;
• heifers, heifers, heifers.

You can also target the production of green horse feed, even.

Most farm animals require herbal feed, which is the main source of vitamins. Since the climate of our country allows animals to consume fresh grass only from spring to autumn, there has been a long tradition of harvesting dried grass (hay) for the winter.

Despite the long-term use of this method, it has several disadvantages:

• long preparation time;
• the need for a lot of physical labor;
• the need for a spacious room for drying;
• loss of nutrients.

Fortunately, technologies do not stand still, therefore the production of herbal flour and herbal granules has already been developed and is actively used. The manufacturing technology of this feed is quite simple, it takes a minimum of time, and most importantly, all the nutrients are preserved!

Making herbal granules

Herbal granules are a natural protein-vitamin feed for animals and poultry, which is obtained from chopped and dried grass by means of granulation. Herb flour is obtained after drying at a high temperature and grinding the herb into flour. Pelletizing provides better feed storage.

In terms of energy value, such feed is very close to concentrate, because in 1 kg it has:

• about 0.9 feed units;
• up to 140 g of digestible protein;
• up to 300 mg of carotene;
• vitamins E, K, group B;
• amino acids.

Pellets are used as feed additives or as a main feed.

As an additional feed, they supplement the main feed with granules, but this indicator is different for each animal:

• cattle - 30-40% of the diet;
• pigs - 10-15%;
• sheep, horses - 80%.

Like any product, herbal granules come in several types. They differ in the quality and quantity of carotene (the more carotene, the more nutritious the feed). This affects the cost of feed, therefore, for better marketing, offer different types at different prices.

The shape of the granules is small - diameter 2.4-20 mm, length 15-28 mm. Smaller ones give young birds, slightly larger ones - for an adult bird, large ones - for cattle, horses, pigs.

Raw materials stock up on food in the summer. Choose forage crops that can be harvested at different times.

The right raw material for your business:

1. Perennial legumes... The advantage of such crops is the high content of vitamins, various minerals and digestible protein. Hence - high nutritional properties. Stocking up on alfalfa and red clover is preferable. Often they are mixed with cereal herbs.
2. Cereal herbs, they are often mixed with perennial legumes in a smaller proportion.

Don't overdo it with less nutritious herbs as your food will be certified for quality and nutritionally proven. Bad performance will hurt your business.

Feed production technology

When producing herbal flour and herbal granules, strictly follow the process:

1. Grass bevel... Grass yield is always greater than grain yield - this is another plus in a business plan for the production of feed in the form of grass pellets or flour.

Please note that when mowing the grass, as well as loading it, you will certainly suffer losses. The main thing is that they do not exceed 2% of the total mass.

2. Primary milling of grass in which different plants are mixed into one mass;

The quality of drying and fuel economy depend on the quality of grass chopping, respectively, saving the business budget.

Permissible sizes of crushed particles:

• 80% of the mass - particles of 30 mm;
• 20% of the mass - particles no more than 110 mm.

3. Transportation of the crushed mass. Minimize chopped grass loss by using mesh rails in transport. Also, make sure that the raw materials are not contaminated.

The maximum time between mowing and drying is 3 hours. If it takes longer, the herb will begin to lose all the nutrients, which means your product will be of inadequate quality.

4. Drying- a very important process, on the observance of which the quality of your products depends. The grass dries very quickly (in just a few seconds) to 9-12% moisture;

Grass heating temperature - up to 70 ° С.

Loss of carotene should be no more than 5%.

5. Grinding to get flour. It is very important to consider the percentage of carotene here. If the feed is artificially grown, the antioxidant technology is applied to it. This process reduces the loss of carotene.

6. Granulation- the stage due to which all useful substances are preserved in the product, besides, transportation becomes more convenient.

Requirements for granules (according to GOST 18691-88):

• diameter - 3–25 mm;
• length - up to 2 diameters;
• density - 600–1,300 kg / m3;
• crumbling - up to 12%;
• the share of dry matter is 85–90%.

After making the granules, they need to be cooled for 15 minutes to minimize the loss of carotene (up to 5%).

7. Packaging and storage of feed... Depending on the method of sale, the packaging of products depends:

• craft bags of 30-50 kg. - retail and small wholesale;
• bags "big bag" 1000 kg - medium wholesale;
• loading into transport without packaging in bags - large wholesale.

The feed production technologies are quite simple, with this you will not have any problems when starting a business.

Premises for production and personnel

A plant for the production of animal feed must meet certain criteria:

1. A large area, because the equipment for grass flour occupies a rather large area (about 250 sq. M.) + A room is needed for storing finished feed and stocks of raw materials;
2. Shaded storage room to avoid degrading carotene;
3. Ceiling height - from 4 meters;
4. Shop temperature - from +2 to + 4ºС;
5. Air humidity 60–75%;
6. Good ventilation;
7. In the warehouse, the aisles between the stacks are about 1 m, between the walls of the room and the rows - at least 0.7 m;
8. Ceiling height - from 4 m;
9. Equipment area - 250 sq.m.

The feed business needs a manpower, so hire a staff. You don't need any special knowledge, just distribute responsibilities between employees, conduct mini-training. Hire 3 workers in one shift.

Equipment for the production of pelleted feed

1. Grass mowing equipment(simultaneously grinds):

• self-propelled forage harvesters: Don-680, Maral-125 or KSK-100A are suitable;
• semi-mounted forage harvesters: "Polesye-3000";
• forage harvesting complexes.

1. Raw material supply conveyor;
2. Grass chopper;
3. Drying equipment:

• drying units: productivity - 0.5–1.5 t / h;
• low-temperature dryers (air heating up to 130 ° С) accelerate the drying process. without loss of product quality.

1. Cyclone;
2. Herb crusher;
3. Granulator;
4. Conveyor for cooling feed. The granules are cooled by a fan and sent to the sieving table. The granules are separated from small particles, which are sent back to the granulator.

1. Filling machine including scales. Craft bags are filled with pellets and then packed with bag sewing machines.
2. Universal loader for moving and loading bags of feed.

Some growers prefer to wilt the grass before drying, but in this case, additional equipment will be needed.

Video: the process of obtaining granules from grass

Business costs

Production costs 1 ton of herbal flour, with which the pellets will be made.

Raw materials:

3 tons of grass = 2 500 rubles.

Drying fuels:

• electric power - 154.25 kW = 500 rubles;
• gas - 86 nm3 / h = 200 rubles;
• firewood - 80 kg = 150 rubles.

Wage fund:

1 ton = 350 rubles. for salary

Additional expenses business = 700 rubles / t.

In total, the main indicators of the business:

• the cost of flour - 4,000 rubles.
• wholesale price - 10,000 rubles.
• the wholesale cost of pelleted feed is 14,000 rubles.

Feed business costs

Different scales of production will require different investments in equipment:

• 0.5 t / hour - 3,500,000 rubles;
• 3 t / hour - 9,300,000 rubles.

If you organize a home business without using a full line of production and renting premises, about 700,000 rubles is enough for you.

If you open a full-fledged production of herbal flour in granules, the costs will be different. Below are the averages based on herb purchases.

Granule production line:

• productivity of 0.5 tons of granules / hour - 3,500,000 rubles;
• productivity of 1.5 tons of pellets / hour - 6,300,000 rubles;
• productivity of 3 tons of pellets / hour - 9,500,000 rubles.

Bulk Product Line:

• productivity of 0.5 tons of granules / hour - 2,000,000 rubles;
• productivity of 1.5 tons of pellets / hour - 4,000,000 rubles;
• productivity of 3 tons of pellets / hour - 5,000,000 rubles.

Add to the cost of equipment the cost of delivery and installation of equipment, personnel training.

After the initial costs, the monthly business expenses will include:

• purchase of raw materials;
• employee salaries;
• communal payments;
• taxes;
• additional expenses.

Total: about 750,000 rubles. per month.

Profitability and return on business

1 ton of pellets per hour = 12,000 rubles.

6 tons per day = 72,000 rubles.

120 tons per month = 8,640,000 rubles.

The net profit of the business is about 7,500,000 rubles.

Correct feeding of the sheep is the basis for normal weight gain and an increase in the number of flocks. Animal nutrition should be balanced, the choice of its regime depends on many factors. It is taken into account what the sheep eat, depending on the season, age category and the purpose of their raising.

What do sheep eat?

The diet of sheep consists almost entirely of plant foods, since they are herbivores. The flock spends a significant part of the time on grazing and feeds on pasture; during this period, the animals practically do not need additional feed additives.

For the full development of young individuals and an increase in livestock, it is necessary to include many different products in the diet at different times. Let's talk about each of them.

Juicy feed

The main part of the sheep's diet is succulent feed. There are several of them:

1. Grass. Sheep eat not only young and succulent shoots, but also coarse grasses, such as thorns, weeds and even thin branches of trees. When choosing a pasture, breeders prefer arid areas, as flood meadows and marshy lowlands are not very suitable for sheep. Fresh green mass is very nutritious, but in the second half of summer it loses some of its valuable properties, therefore, by this time, animals begin to be supplemented with green cereals, for example, rye, oats, corn or winter wheat shoots, legumes.
2. Silage. This feed is eaten by sheep with particular eagerness, it is slightly inferior in nutrition to grass. Especially good is corn silage mixed with roughage and leguminous hay. Its daily rate for sheep is up to 4 kg.
3. Roots. Vegetables are a great source of vitamins and fiber and are a favorite sheep's treat. What exactly to feed the sheep with? Best of all fodder beets and carrots. They help improve the digestion of animals and their ability to resist infections. It is advisable to give up to 4 kg of such feed per day.
4. Melons. They also saturate the body of animals with vitamins and fiber. Zucchini and pumpkins are usually used for these purposes.

Succulent feed is what sheep eat during the most favorable periods for fattening. Particular attention is paid to their quality, since it is they who saturate the animals in all seasons. The rest of the ingredients are used as top dressing.

Roughage

Roughage also takes up a fairly large proportion of sheep feeding, especially in winter:

1. Straw. It is not desirable to use this type of feed, but it is often included in the diet of feeding adult sheep out of necessity, but its daily dose should not exceed 2.5 kg. Young animals can also be given straw, but in much smaller quantities, up to 1 kg. It is best to use straw from leguminous plants, oats, millet and barley.
2. Hay. The highest quality is distinguished by forbs during the flowering period, clover, alfalfa, peas. They have valuable nutritional properties, and they also contain many essential trace elements. Hay is the basis for feeding the sheep during the stable period. Each adult should eat 2-4 kg of this food daily.
3. Haylage. It is harvested during the haymaking period, while the grass is dried to a moisture content of 50% and preserved in sealed containers.

Roughage is too high in fiber, so too much can damage digestion. In addition, their nutritional properties are significantly inferior to succulent feeds.

Concentrated feed

For sheep, concentrates are the best feed, but sometimes it is impossible to fully feed animals with them, since they have a high cost. These include:

• cereals such as wheat, barley, and oats;
• legumes;
• bran;
• sunflower or soybean meal;
• corn grains;
• compound feed specially developed for sheep.

These feeds are extremely rich in proteins, fats and starch, therefore, it is necessary to feed the sheep with at least 100-150 grams per sheep and up to 600 grams per ram per day.

Diet and feeding rates

The components of the diet are combined in different proportions. Sheep feeding rates, ideally, should be selected for each individual individual according to its condition. Particular attention is paid to how to properly feed pregnant sheep and young animals. To compile a nutritious diet, it is worth considering all the factors affecting the diet separately.

By the seasons

At different times of the year, the nutrition of sheep is different, this is due to the availability of certain types of feed:

1. Spring. At this time of the year, it is necessary to transfer the flock from roughage to fresh herbs. This should be done gradually, haste can lead to intestinal upset, for this, during moments of rest, you need to give hay to the animals. In addition to plant matter, up to 700 grams of concentrates and salt are added to the feed.
2. Summer. In the warm season, fresh herbs should make up at least 85% of the sheep's daily ration. In addition, animals are given up to a kilogram of hay per individual, about 200 grams of concentrated feed and salt.
3. Autumn. By this time, the grass on pastures loses the bulk of its useful properties, which are replenished with hay, at least three kilograms per day. In addition to it, the diet includes up to 4 kg of vegetables and mineral salts.
4. Winter. The possibility of pasture flocks is completely excluded, so the daily ration is formed from 4 kg of hay, 4 kg of silage, up to 300 g of compound feed, up to 4 kg of vegetables, do not forget about the addition of mineral salts.

Diet of ewes, rams-producers

Nesting sheep should be fed the highest quality feed. A month before giving birth, most of the roughage is replaced with concentrated and juicy ingredients:

• a pound of cereal hay;
• up to 300 g of bean hay;
• a pound of straw;
• juicy feed not less than 3 kg;
• 300 g of concentrates;
• up to 15 g of salt.

Sheep, responsible for the reproduction of offspring, also need special nutrition. In normal times, it consists of the following ingredients:

• hay, up to 2 kg;
• juicy feed, up to 3 kg;
• up to 600 g of concentrated feed.

During the mating period, the producer ram loses a lot of energy, therefore, 2 months before it, it is necessary to compact its feeding:

• the hay rate is reduced to one and a half kg;
• 1.4 kg of concentrates, more than half of which should be oats;
• salt;
• 2 chicken eggs or up to 200 g of cottage cheese;
• up to 500 g of vegetable ingredients.

Feeding young and young lambs

The first 5 days of life, lambs feed exclusively on mother's milk. If this is not possible, which is possible in the event of death or illness of the uterus, then the cubs need to be planted with another female or given cow's milk to drink.

Feeding young sheep at home is carried out from the teat on a five-day basis; by the age of two months, the lambs should be fed twice a day. The transition is carried out smoothly and they try to teach young animals to drink from a bowl as early as possible.

Simultaneously with milk nutrition, lambs begin to accustom themselves to solid food. They start with concentrated feed, bringing their amount from 50 g in the first month to 300 g by the fourth, use feed varieties rich in protein. In addition, bean hay must be included in the diet.

4-6 months:

• a pound of hay, haylage and vegetables;
• 300 g of compound feed;
• 150 g of high quality cake;
• up to 4 g of salt.

over six months:

• 1 kg of hay;
• up to 500 g of vegetable crops;
• 200 g of concentrated feed;
• 8 g of mineral salts.

Fattening

To increase productivity, sheep are transferred to a special diet. Sheep feeding begins a few weeks before slaughter:

• up to 700 g of high-quality hay, better than legumes or clover;
• 5 kg of silage;
• 1 kg of vegetables;
• 450 g of concentrates.

For fattening sheep for meat, concentrates are used that are the richest in protein: peas, barley, corn. This will help you build muscle as quickly as possible.

Feeding mode

When feeding sheep, not only the constituents of the diet and their norms are important, but also the diet. For better assimilation of food by animals, you should adhere to some rules:

1. During the stall period, feed three times a day.
2. Introduce less nutritious food in the evening.
3. Be sure to water animals of all ages daily.
4. Give concentrates after drinking, and juicy feed before drinking.
5. During the grazing period, you can refuse to feed if the flock spends at least 13 hours a day on the pasture.
6. Sheep feeding should be carried out with a constantly full trough, also with pregnant and lactating queens.

Paying attention to the correct nutrition of animals is extremely important, since the state of health of each animal depends on it. Feeding affects the number of offspring; with proper and sufficiently plentiful nutrition, there are practically no cases of lambing by one cub. This allows you to increase the livestock as quickly as possible.

* Calculations are based on average data for Russia

As you know, the main diet of many types of farm animals is grass. But fresh grass is available from spring to autumn. In summer, it is harvested for future use and dried in hay, which is then used to feed stall animals. However, this is very laborious and time consuming. A lot of space is required to store an adequate supply of hay for the winter. And, finally, in dry hay (especially when stored for a long time), the supply of nutrients is much lower than in fresh grass. Modern technologies allowed to create new ways of harvesting grass, which help to keep more useful components in it. These include the production of vitamin herbal flour and herbal granules.

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What is herbal flour? This is a protein feed intended for farm animals and poultry and obtained from artificially dried grass, harvested in the early phases of the growing season (at the first stage of budding), dried at a high temperature and crushed to a powdery state. Grass flour is used as a substitute for hay and as a high-quality vitamin supplement with a high carotene content in combination with roughage or concentrated feed. The use of specialized equipment for the production of grass meal allows you to avoid significant losses of raw materials, which are observed during natural drying of grass (breaking off shoots, flowers and leaves). Also, this method of production excludes the adverse effect of moisture and the course of various biochemical and microbiological processes. Granules are made from herbal flour. Pellets lend themselves well to storage, unlike hay, which can cake, mold or rot with conventional harvesting. Experts say that when drying grass artificially, the content of feed units increases by at least 1.5 times, protein - 1.6 times, carbohydrates - 3.5 times, and carotene - 7-8 times. In addition, grass flour and granules are easier to digest than hay, allowing you to get good weight gain and milk yield. In the West, this type of feed is widely used in the feed industry, primarily in the production of feed for poultry, pigs and young cattle.

The production of grass flour and granules from freshly cut grasses is a promising business, because the yield of succulent forage is several times higher than the grain yield. However, the need to strictly adhere to technological requirements and expensive equipment make it very costly. This production assumes a continuous process carried out through the complex mechanization of all stages of the preparation of herbal flour. These stages include mowing green mass, loading and subsequent transportation of raw materials, drying, grinding, storage. Let's consider them in more detail.

Production process of herbal flour and herbal granules

Sown annual and perennial grasses, meadow grasses with a high content of legumes, etc., vetch with oats, alfalfa, clover, goat's rue, nettle, lupine are used as raw materials for the production of flour. The nutritional parameters of the feed depend on the type of collected grasses. The latter are confirmed by a veterinary certificate and / or the conclusion of a chemical laboratory. As in the case of fresh feed, there are three main types of raw materials: forbs, legumes (clover or alfalfa, less often - goat's rue), leguminous mixtures (vetch-oat mixture, or the like).

The legumes to be cut should be about 50 centimeters high. The optimal harvest time for clover and alfalfa for grass meal production is at the end of the stalking phase. This phase lasts approximately 21 days. That is, during the growing season, when mowing legumes, you can collect 3-4 complete cuttings of high-quality green mass. Meadow grasses begin to mow during the stemming phase (during this period the plant height is about 30 cm). The quality of the finished product is largely dependent on the quality of the raw materials for cutting or grass flour. Experts advise using grasses of one cut for no more than 12 days. It has been scientifically established that most of the carotene in plants is contained in the morning hours from 6 to 10 in the morning. Then its level begins to decrease, and by 20 hours its amount may decrease by 4-6 times compared to the initial one. Thus, in order to preserve the maximum amount of carotene in the raw material, it is best to mow and process forage crops in the early morning hours, but, of course, this requirement cannot always be met.

To increase the performance of dryers, you need to chop the herbs as best as possible. The maximum allowable particle size at the first stage of raw material procurement should not exceed 110 mm. At least 80% of its total volume must be particles up to 30 mm in size. Trust me, the time spent sharpening and adjusting the mower-chopper knives will pay off in the future with savings on fuel (one of the biggest expense items) and a significant improvement in product quality.

The total weight loss when mowing grass and loading it into transport should be no more than 2%. For the preparation of grass mass with its simultaneous crushing, special equipment is required: self-propelled forage harvesters (Don-680, Maral-125, KSK-100A, etc.), semi-mounted forage harvesters (Polesie-3000), forage harvesters complexes or trailed forage harvesters with tractors of traction class 1.4; 2 and 3. In this case, the harvester is set up for fine cutting.

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It is very important to establish the process of transporting the crushed mass to the place of further processing of raw materials. At the same time, its loss or contamination must not be allowed: the period between mowing fresh grass and drying it (including the storage period on the site near the drying unit) should not exceed two to three hours. The fact is that in a loose heap, crushed grass quickly warms itself up, as a result of which it loses its most valuable qualities. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to synchronize the work of the transport and the dryer. Tractor trailers and dump trucks with additional mesh sides are used as transport. The boards will minimize losses, preserving the grass during loading, transportation and unloading.

So, less than three hours after mowing, the grass should go to drying, after which the grass mass will be ground into flour. The crushed mass is fed to the drying unit on the feeder tray, from which it enters the drying drum along a conveyor and an inclined conveyor. Drying is carried out at a raw material heating temperature of no more than 70 ° C. The relative humidity of the finished herb flour should be 8-12%, and the herb cut should be 10-15%. Violation of these requirements (for example, overdrying the raw material to 5-6%) can lead to a loss in the mass of carotene and protein, as well as to an increase in the risk of fire. And underdrying the mass can overload the crusher's electric motor and cause frequent clogging of the sieves. According to the requirements, the loss of carotene during the drying process should not exceed 5%, and the loss of dry matter should not exceed 2%.

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For drying, high-temperature drying units can be used (they differ in productivity - from 0.5 to 1.5 tons of dry product per hour) or low-temperature dryers, where the air is heated to 100-130 ° C using heat generators, and the mass is processed by an ultra-high electromagnetic field. frequency, which can significantly speed up the process and improve product quality. At the outlet of the drum, heavy particles and foreign inclusions are separated from the dried mass.

Using the same line, the obtained raw materials can be used to produce grass flour, grass granules and grass cutting. The technology for the production of grass cutting is generally the same. The only difference is that the dry mass from the cyclone does not go into the crusher (as for the production of flour), but into a special bunker or a tractor trailer, where it is kept according to the rules fire safety for at least twenty hours, and then goes to the warehouse with a humidity level of 17-19%. Grass cutting takes up a rather large volume, therefore, it is more expedient to briquet it at the next stage of production. To do this, you will need additional equipment - press briquetting machines, which tamp the cutting at a moisture content of 13% into briquettes. Upon completion of the work, it is necessary to check that no mass with a moisture content of more than 12% remains in the press channels.

If the production of cutting ends at this stage, then in the case of the production of grass flour and granules, this is far from the end. One of the most important criteria for the quality of herbal flour is the percentage of carotene in it. Since this percentage inevitably decreases during the processing of grass mass, in order to reduce losses, the antioxidants Santoquin or Diludin are introduced into artificially grown feed at a dose of 0.02% of the mass of the processed feed. This reduces the loss of carotene by 2-2.5 times. Antioxidants must be dissolved in a filler, which is fats or water (in the case of the hydrochloric salt of Santoquin).

At the next stage, after grinding, the herb flour is granulated. This procedure has several advantages. Granules are more convenient to use (for distribution to animals). This form can reduce the need for storage space by 3-3.5 times (especially compared to grass cutting), reduces losses during transportation and storage, and is also more convenient for mechanized loading and unloading from a warehouse.

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Granulation is carried out using special equipment - separate granulators with annular matrices or a granulation line. In the granulator hopper, granules of a given diameter are formed. According to GOST 18691 - 88, the diameter of the granules should be 3.0 - 25.0 mm (the most common herbal granules with a diameter of 8 mm), the length - no more than two diameters, density - 600 - 1300 kg / m3, and crumbling - no more than 12% , Mass fraction of dry matter in herbal flour should be within 88 - 91% (moisture - 12 - 9%), granular - 85 - 90% (moisture - 15 - 10%). The moisture level is very important, since the quality of the finished product depends on it.

When flour is pressed, the temperature in the granules rises significantly and must be quickly cooled to ambient temperature. Slow cooling leads to significant losses of carotene. Cooling down should not take more than 15 minutes, then the loss of carotene will be insignificant and fit into the norm up to 5%. For these reasons, after the granulator, the product is fed to the cooling conveyor, where it is cooled by the counterflow of air from the fan, and through it to the sieving table, where the mash is separated from the molded granules. Spread and rejected granules are returned to the granulator using a screw conveyor, and granules that meet the requirements of GOST are sent to the scales. The finished herbal granules are poured into three-layer paper kraft bags with a capacity of 30 to 50 kg or Big-Bags 1000 kg each. Granules in bags of 30-50 kg, as a rule, are sold at retail or in small wholesale, and Big-Bags packages are sold in medium wholesale. With large wholesale, herbal pellets are usually loaded in bulk into a truck. During packaging, the temperature of the product must be equal to the ambient temperature (exceeding up to 8 ° C is allowed). The filled bags are sewn up with small sewing machines and stacked on pallets up to two meters high. For moving pallets, sending bags to the warehouse, unloading and loading, you need universal loaders.

A number of requirements are imposed on the room where bags of grass flour are stored. It should be darkened, since carotene is destroyed by light. There are no strict heating requirements, but good ventilation is needed. The optimum air temperature for storage of granules is 2-4 ° C, and the relative humidity of the air is 65-75%. Granaries meet all these requirements. However, in the absence of such, you can do with a warehouse for storing raw materials or loose and granular feed. Aisles between stacks in a warehouse should be about one meter, and the minimum distance between the walls of the warehouse and the rows should be 0.7 meters. For the convenience of working in the warehouse, the width of the aisles between the stacks should be from 1.25 meters. Herbal granules can be stored in bulk in specially equipped warehouses or in inert gases with an oxygen content of no more than 1-1.5 in special storages. The latter consist of twenty hermetically sealed silos, each of which can be loaded with 50 tons of pellets, gas generators and conveyor systems.

Please note: the scheme for the production of grass flour may differ slightly from the above. Manufacturers are trying to find new solutions to reduce the cost of finished products. After all, grass flour cannot be called a cheap feed. For example, to reduce the cost of production, the grass mass is often pre-dried before drying. The withering of the chopped grass is carried out on windrows in order to reduce the loss of carotene from exposure to sunlight and, again, reduce the risk of contamination and spoilage of the feed. The duration of this stage depends on the weather conditions. It can be 4-36 hours before humidity is not less than 65-70%.

This additional stage allows you to reduce the costs of the drying process: increase the productivity of the unit by 50-60% and reduce fuel consumption per unit of production by 40-50%! However, it also has certain disadvantages. So, in the production of grass flour with wilting, more harvesting machines will be required (accordingly, they also need additional fuel). The process of harvesting green mass itself becomes more time-consuming, complex and, therefore, more expensive. At the same time, in the process of collecting and wilting, the quality of raw materials also deteriorates due to the loss of leaves and inflorescences. In addition, weather conditions play an important role, which represents a certain risk (partly predictable). Finally, even when this stage of processing takes place on windrows, and not in swaths, in its process, the carotene content in the grass is reduced by 2-4%. Its digestibility (primarily of protein) also deteriorates, and the risk of subsequent ignition of the dried grass in the drum of the dryer increases.

There are other ways to optimize the manufacturing process. For example, some manufacturers build a raw material conveyor to keep dryers running smoothly throughout the season. The length of the season depends on the region. In the forest zone and in the north of the forest-steppe zone, it is 90-120 days, and in the southern regions - 120-150 days.

You can also use new equipment that is more economical than traditional models. These include, for example, heat generators operating on cheap fuel - straw. One kilowatt of heat when using straw as fuel costs many times cheaper than diesel fuel, firewood, gas and electricity. According to the manufacturers of such equipment, 4-5 rolls of straw or 500-800 kg of birch firewood are required per day of continuous operation of the heat generator. Up to 16 tons of raw materials for the production of grass flour can be dried per day. Thus, it is quite possible to produce about 1600 tons of herbal granules per season. To provide the heat generator with fuel for the entire season, it is enough to allocate 50-100 hectares for straw.

In the production of grass cutting, it is possible to increase the productivity of the equipment by 20% and reduce fuel consumption by 10% if the mass is dried in two stages: first, it is dried only to a moisture content of 25%, and then it is dried with active ventilation. True, this method is suitable only when the air humidity does not exceed 70%.

Expenses and income

So what does it take to get started producing herbal flour? Let's make an approximate calculation based on the fact that the company will not be engaged in harvesting grass on its own. First of all, large enough areas will be required to accommodate all the necessary equipment, store finished products and stocks of raw materials. The height of the ceilings in the production area must be at least four meters. The total area for equipment placement is 250 sq. meters. Unlike warehouses, a production workshop must be heated (the minimum permissible temperature in it is +5 ° C) and have a water supply. The list of required equipment includes: a conveyor for feeding raw materials into a shredder, a shredder of materials IMD, a cyclone with a frame, a drying complex, a hammer crusher, a granulation unit (pellet press, bunker, control panel), a column or cooling unit, a packing unit (conveyor, scales, frame), control panels. To service this equipment, three people are enough per shift. The cost of the production line depends on the configuration and performance. For example, a line with a capacity of 0.5 tons of finished product in granules per hour will cost 3.5 million rubles, a line with a capacity of 1.5 t / h will cost just over 6 million rubles, 3 t / h - 9.3 million rubles. A line for the production of finished product in bulk with a capacity of 0.5 t / h will cost almost 2 million rubles, 1.5 t / h - 4 million rubles, 3 t / h - 4.8 million rubles. Add to this the costs of transportation, installation, commissioning, and equipment training.

If you care about your reputation, then your products must be certified for compliance with GOST 18691-88 and accompanied by a certificate of compliance, veterinary certificate and test report. This also comes with additional costs.

Let's calculate the main costs for the production of one ton of grass meal. These include electricity, gas (firewood, hay, etc.) for drying, equipment, raw materials, wages of employees of the enterprise. The exact cost of grass flour depends, among other things, on the type of fuel on which the heat generator operates. The consumed electric power of the drying is 154.25 kW. Accordingly, the cost of electricity per ton of finished products will reach 500 rubles. The amount of gas consumed for drying is 86 Nm3 / h. Thus, the cost of gas for drying one ton will be about 200 rubles. For drying, you will need about 80 kg of firewood (also per ton), which will cost 150 rubles. For the manufacture of one ton of products, three tons of grass are required. This amount of raw materials will cost from 2,500 rubles. Fund wages will be at least 30 thousand rubles a month (in the regions, an employee of such a production receives 60 rubles per hour) based on work in one shift (this cost item is about 200 rubles per ton of product). Additionally, you need to include the cost of deductions for the depreciation of equipment based on the service life of the latter for eight years (about 300 rubles per ton of product).

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