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 Advantages and Disadvantages

 Information gained from the many indicated combined sources is the basis
 for the following outline summary of mechanical dewatering of forage crops:-

 I. Advantages in feeding press-cake over green-chop to cattle

 1. Increased intake of dry matter and increased T.D.N., hence with
 adjustments in ration less supplemental feeds are required.

 2. Reduces a cow's selectivity for plant parts or species due to mix-
 ing and inter-compacting, hence less throw-out and refusal losses.

 3. In certain cases appears to reduce digestive disorders and to
 improve the general sanitation conditions about a feeding area.

 II. Advantages of feeding press-cake over pasture grazing

 All the above plus:-

 4. Reduces the weed problem in that broadcast cutting is required.

 5. Less trampling and loss of stand in a pasture, hence yields per
 acre are increased.

 6. Utilizes urine and manure spot forage.

 7. Makes possible obtaining forage at maximum nutritive stage within
 a system of crop and land management that requires no temporary
 or special fencing.

 III. Advantages of mechanical dewatering in silage making

 8. Increases the amount of dry matter that can be put into a silo.

 9. Increases the rate and the degree of the ensiling or the preserva-
 tion process.

 10. Reduces the need for preservatives or additives.

IV. Advantages of dewatering for thermal dehydration

 11. Speeds up and adds to completion of the dehydration process.

 12. Reduces costs and increases the output rate.

 13. A dehydration enterprise may be reduced to a standard practice
 because of a near-like raw material insofaras water to be evaporated.

V. Disadvantages of dewatering

 1. Requires an initial high investment in machinery.

 2. A dewatering press must have stainless steel in the functional
 parts, hence farm repairs are difficult.
 3. A forage-crop-harvester with a dewatering press attachment is not
 yet available, hence the need to delay economies in farm transporta-
 tion and returning press-liquor fractions back to the land.