Feed safety in dairy cattle feeding: Evaluation of silage quality based on principal component analysis

The quality of silage has an important impact on the growth and health of dairy cattle. Aiming at its quality evaluation, this study investigated and constructed the quality evaluation model of silage based on principal component analysis (PCA). The evaluation index system of silage quality and safety was established by using the analytic hierarchy process, and then, the comprehensive quality evaluation model of silage based on PCA was established. The results showed that cumulative variance contribution rate of 12 retained principal component feature roots reached 87.63%. According to the pH values, the superior and inferior feed samples from Inner Mongolia, China accounted for 35% and 12.3%, respectively, while superior and inferior feed samples from Beijing, China accounted for 30.48% and 12.24%, respectively. Based on the contents of ammonia nitrogen and organic acids, 72% of samples from Inner Mongolia had an excellent quality grade, while 70% of samples from Beijing had an excellent quality grade. The comprehensive silage quality evaluation model based on PCA demonstrated certain feasibility and effectiveness and was simpler than the construction method and calculation of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, which positively affected the quality evaluation of silage, and had a certain role in promoting the long-term development of animal husbandry and feed industry.