Straw bales are a source of animal feed.

To experience the fascinating and beautiful process of baling straw, where the bales are stacked high into enormous, beautifully arranged piles of "golden" straw, we invite you, Vietnam.vn , to admire the photo series "Bagged Straw, a Source of Animal Feed" by author Tran Van Tuy. The photos were taken in Binh Thuan and submitted to the "Happy Vietnam" photo and video contest , organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications . In the southeastern provinces of Vietnam, rice is typically harvested using combine harvesters. After harvesting, the straw is stacked in rows, facilitating the use of straw baling machines. These machines consist of a straw reel that moves the straw into the machine chamber, where it is shredded and then baled using rollers and belts. The final product is cylindrical bales of straw. Baling straw not only increases its nutritional value and shelf life, but also improves storage by reducing space requirements, and enhances the weight gain of beef cattle, thus reducing feed costs. Straw is one of the main sources of roughage for raising buffalo and cattle, especially in winter. Currently, straw is collected by machine, resulting in large quantities and convenient storage for year-round use in agricultural production and livestock farming. However, in the past, people have only used baled straw in its raw form to feed buffalo and cattle, so the efficiency has not been high. Straw is characterized by its dryness, bulkiness, and low nutritional quality, with a high silica content (12-16%), which is the main reason for poor digestibility. Feeding unprocessed straw will limit livestock's ability to eat it. Therefore, to use straw effectively in buffalo and cattle farming, it needs to be processed in various ways to increase its feedability, nutritional value, and digestibility. To improve the efficiency of straw use in livestock farming, localities in the Southeast region of Vietnam have developed models for processing baled straw (mixed with other ingredients) to use as fattening feed for cattle. To proactively prevent hunger and cold for cattle and buffaloes and to utilize the straw after harvest, people can use straw as animal feed. Straw has low nutritional content, but after processing by composting with urea, it becomes a nutritious and beneficial feed for cattle and buffaloes. Using baled straw as feed will help reduce the burning of straw in the fields, which causes many negative consequences and waste. To expand this model and ensure its practical application, many localities nationwide continue to promote, survey, and assess needs, while selecting and applying appropriate straw processing technologies for current household-scale livestock farming. In 2024, the "Happy Vietnam" photo and video contest will continue to be organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications in collaboration with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists on the website https://happy.vietnam.vn, open to all Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and above. The competition aims to honor individuals and groups with positive informational products that make practical contributions to promoting a beautiful image of Vietnam to the world . Through this, it helps people at home, overseas Vietnamese, and international friends access authentic images of Vietnam, its people, its achievements in ensuring human rights, and working towards a happy Vietnam. Each competition category (photos and videos) has the following prizes and prize values: – 1 Gold Medal: 70,000,000 VND – 2 Silver Medals: 20,000,000 VND – 3 Bronze Medals: 10,000,000 VND – 10 Consolation Prizes: 5,000,000 VND – 1 Most Voted entry: 5,000,000 VND. Winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Award Ceremony and Certificate Presentation, broadcast live on Vietnam Television.

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