This study evaluated the chemical composition and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of elephant grass silages at different growth stages (70, 90 and 110 days), with the addition (0, 5, 10 and ...15%, on a fresh matter basis) of mesquite pod meal. A completely randomized design (CRD) was used in a factorial arrangement with four replications. PVC pipes 100 mm in diameter were used as experimental silos. After 30 days of ensilage, samples were taken from the open silos to determine chemical composition and IVDMD. The inclusion of mesquite pod meal (MPM) increased (p < 0.01) the concentrations of DM and CP. No interaction (p > 0.01) was detected between MPM concentrations and elephant grass cutting age for DM, CP and NDF contents in the silages. A decrease (p < 0.01) was observed in NDF, ADF and MM concentrations with the inclusion of MPM. There was a linear increase (p < 0.01) in IVDMD with increasing levels of MPM; and IVDMD decreased (p < 0.01) with increasing cutting age of the elephant grass. The inclusion of mesquite pod meal contributed to improve the chemical composition and digestibility of silages. Keywords: chemical composition, digestibility, ensilage, Pennisetum purpureum, Schum., Prosopis juliflora. Objetivou-se avaliar a composicao quimico-bromatologica e a digestibilidade "in vitro" da materia seca (DIVMS) de silagens de capim-elefante em diferentes tempos (70; 90 e 110 dias) de crescimento do capim, com inclusao (0, 5, 10 e 15%) do farelo da vagem de algaroba. Foi utilizado um delineamento inteiramente casualizado (DIC), arranjado em um esquema fatorial, com quatro repeticoes. Como silos experimentais foram utilizados tubos do tipo PVC com 100 mm de diametro. Passados 30 dias da ensilagem, os silos foram abertos e retiradas amostras para determinacao da composicao quimicobromatologica e DIVMS. A inclusao do farelo da vagem de algaroba (FVA) elevou os teores de MS e PB. Nao foi observada interacao (p > 0,01) concentracao do FVA X idade de corte do capim-elefante nos teores de MS, PB e FDN das silagens. Foi observada diminuicao (p < 0,01) nos teores de FDN, FDA e MM com a inclusao do FVA. Houve aumento linear (p < 0,01) na DIVMS com o aumento na concentracao do FVA e diminuicao (p < 0,01) na DIVMS com o aumento da idade de corte do capim-elefante. A inclusao do farelo da vagem de algaroba contribui para melhorar a composicao quimica e a digestibilidade das silagens. Palavras-chave: composicao quimica, digestibilidade, ensilagem, Pennisetum purpureum, Schum., Prosopis juliflora.
Silages prepared from pure stands of ryegrass, alfalfa, white clover, and red clover over two successive year were offered to lactating dairy cows in two feeding experiments. Proportional mixtures of ...all cuts prepared in a yr were used to ensure that the forage treatments were representative of the crop. Additional treatments involved mixtures of grass silage with either white clover silage or red clover silage (50/50, on a DM basis). Silages were prepared in round bales, using a biological inoculant additive, and wilting for up to 48h. Although the legumes were less suited to silage-making than grass, because of their higher buffering capacity and lower water-soluble carbohydrate content, all silages were well-fermented. A standard concentrate was offered at a flat-rate (8 kg/d in yr 1, and 4 or 8 kg/d in yr 2). All of the legume silages led to higher DM intake and milk yields than for the grass silage, with little effect on milk composition. Intake and production responses to legumes were similar at the two levels of concentrate feeding and with forage mixtures they were intermediate to those for the separate forages. An additional benefit of the clover silages, particularly red clover silage, was the increase in levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly α-linolenic acid, in milk. Legume silages also led to a lower palmitic acid percentage in milk. The efficiency of conversion of feed N into milk N declined with increasing levels of legume silage. White clover silage led to a higher N-use efficiency when the effect of N intake level is taken into account.
The aim of the study was to determine the effect of 10 sources of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on dry matter digestibility (DM-D) and neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDF-D), in various ...combinations with starch, in vitro. The soluble starch represented a concentrate feed, whereas silage represented feeding only roughage. The DM-D and NDF-D were determined after 24 and 48h of incubation to represent effective (24h) and potential (48h) digestibility. Addition of LAB was both by direct application of the inoculants to rumen fluid (directly fed microbials) and by the use of preinoculated silages. For each feed combination, tubes without added LAB served as controls. The results indicate that, overall, some LAB inoculants applied at ensiling or added directly to the rumen fluid had the potential to increase the DM-D and NDF-D. The major significant inoculant effect on NDF-D was obtained after 24h of incubation, whereas the effect after 48h was mainly nonsignificant. The effective inoculants seemed to minimize the inhibitory effect of the starch on NDF-D within 24h, perhaps by competition with lactate-producing rumen microorganisms.
Silage making can be conveniently divided into field, ensiling, storage, and feed-out phases. In all of these stages, controllable and uncontrollable components can affect silage quality. For ...instance, silages produced in hot or cold regions are strongly influenced by uncontrollable climate-related factors. In hot regions, crops for silage are influenced by (1) high temperatures negatively affecting corn yield (whole-crop and grain) and nutritive value, (2) butyric and alcoholic fermentations in warm-season grasses (Panicum, Brachiaria, and Pennisetum genera) and sugarcane, respectively, and (3) accelerated aerobic deterioration of silages. Ensiling expertise and economic factors that limit mechanization also impair silage production and utilization in hot environments. In cold regions, a short and cool growing season often limits the use of crops sensitive to cool temperature, such as corn. The fermentation triggered by epiphytic and inoculated microorganisms can also be functionally impaired at lower temperature. Although the use of silage inoculants has increased in Northern Europe, acid-based additives are still a good option in difficult weather conditions to ensure good fermentation quality, nutritive value, and high intake potential of silages. Acid-based additives have enhanced the quality of round bale silage, which has become a common method of forage preservation in Northern Europe. Although all abiotic factors can affect silage quality, the ambient temperature is a factor that influences all stages of silage making from production in the field to utilization at the feed bunk. This review identifies challenges and obstacles to producing silages under hot and cold conditions and discusses strategies for addressing these challenges.
Microbial population dynamics associated with corn silage, with and without
Lactobacillus plantarum
treatment, was studied. Whole crop corn was ensiled using laboratory silos and sampled at different ...times, up to 3 months. The dominant bacteria, before ensiling, were
Acinetobacter
(38.5%) and
Klebsiella
(16.3%), while the dominant fungi were
Meyerozyma
(53.5%) and
Candida
(27.7%). During ensiling, the microbial population shifted considerably, and
Lactobacillus
(> 94%) and
Candida
(> 74%) became the most dominant microbial genera in both treated and untreated silages. Yet, lactic acid content was higher in the treated silage, while the microbial diversity was lower than in the untreated silage. Upon aerobic exposure, spoilage occurred more rapidly in the treated silage, possibly due to the higher abundance of lactic acid-assimilating fungi, such as
Candida
. Our study is the first to describe microbial population dynamics during whole-crop corn ensiling and the results indicate that microbial diversity may be an indicator of aerobic stability.
•The study investigated methane production of corn stalks with silage time.•Material and microbial characters of corn stalk silage was stable after 10days.•Silage can conserve carbon effectively with ...a 3.77% DM loss.•Methane production loss from corn stalks during silage was 9.22%.
Silage efficiency is crucial for corn stalk storage in methane production. This study investigated characteristics of dynamic changes in materials and microbes during the silage process of corn stalks from the initial to stable state. We conducted laboratory-scale study of different silage corn stalks, and optimized silage time (0, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 30days) for methane production and the endogenous microbial community. The volatile fatty acid concentration increased to 3.00g/L on Day 10 from 0.42g/L on Day 0, and the pH remained below 4.20 from 5.80. The lactic acid concentration (44%) on Day 10 lowered the pH and inhibited the methane yield, which gradually decreased from 229mL/g TS at the initial state (Day 0, 2) to 207mL/g TS at the stable state (Day 10, 20, 30). Methanosaeta was the predominant archaea in both fresh and silage stalks; however, richness decreased from 14.11% to 4.75%.
Aims
To investigate the changes in fermentation quality of whole‐plant corn silage ensiled with varying dosages of mixed organic acid salts (MS), and link these dosage changes to shifts in bacterial ...composition.
Methods and Results
Fermentation quality and bacterial community of corn silage ensiled with MS at four application rates (0, 0·67 g kg−1, 1·33 g kg−1, and 2·00 g kg−1) were investigated. The MS consisted of 40% potassium sorbate and 60% sodium benzoate. The corn silages were conserved for 42 days. Dry matter losses and ammonia nitrogen concentration were linearly declined by up to 19·10 and 33·3% with increasing dosages of MS. MS treatments significantly reduced the pH of silage vs the control group. Further analysis indicated that the improvement of fermentation quality was the result of shifts in bacterial composition, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus paralimentarius and Pediococcus spp. increased while Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus coryniformis and Klebsiella declined with increasing dosages of MS.
Conclusions
MS effectively improved the fermentation quality of whole‐plant corn silage with an optimum dosage of 2·00 g kg−1.
Significance and Impact of the Study
The correlation between bacterial taxa and fermentation quality provides a potential for the development of novel silage inoculants and for the application of MS on controlling Klebsiella mastitis of livestock farms.
Abstract
In Brazil, it is common practice to feed young bulls a low-concentrate diet (LCD) after weaning, followed by a high-concentrate diet (HCD) during the finishing phase to optimize animal ...growth while reducing the cost of concentrated feed. By restricting the concentrate intake during the early phase, the animals can potentially adapt better to a high-energy diet during the finishing phase, leading to improved performance. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different LCD feeding periods after weaning, followed by feeding a HCD, on dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), feed efficiency (G:F), and final body weight (BW) of young Nellore bulls. Thirty-two young Nellore bulls (average initial BW = 265 ± 5 kg; age = 7 ± 1 mo) were used in a completely randomized design into four groups (n = 8/group) and assigned to receive one of 4 treatments containing different periods of LCD. The LCD consisted of 800 g/kg of forage sorghum silage and 200 g/kg of concentrate, while the HCD contained 200 g/kg of corn silage and 800 g/kg of concentrate. The diets were formulated according to BR-CORTE (2016) to achieve ADG of 0.6 kg/day and 1.2 kg/day for the LCD and HCD, respectively. The experiment lasted 154 days (14 days for adaptation to the HCD). The LCD and HCD feeding periods respectively were 0 and 140 (T0), 28 and 112 (T28), 56 and 84 (T56), and 84 and 56 (T84) days. All animals were fed ad libitum in an electronic feeder (INTERGADO, Intergado Ltd., Contagem, MG, Brazil), and individual daily feed intake was recorded. The bulls were weighed at the beginning and the end of the LCD and HCD feeding periods after undergoing 16 h of fasting to measure BW and ADG of both periods. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC) assuming the significance level of 0.05. There was no evidence that different LCD feeding periods impacted DMI (P = 0.99), ADG (P = 0.59), or G:F (P = 0.48) during the LCD feeding period. The DMI during the HCD feeding period of T0 did not differ from the others, the T28 was not significantly different from the T84, and the T56 treatment was greater than T28 and T84 (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found between the treatments for ADG (P = 0.09) and G:F (P = 0.98) during the HCD feeding period. The T0 had the heaviest final BW, while there was no difference between the T28 and T56 groups, and the T84 group had the lightest final BW(P < 0.01). Given that the final BW was heavier for T0, it may be inferred that there are no benefits to using LCD feeding periods.
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BA) and Bacillus subtilis (BS) are usually used as feed supplements directly or bacterial inoculants in biological feeds for animals. However, few research have reported ...the effects of BA and BS on fermentation characteristics and bacterial community successions of whole-plant corn silage during ensiling. If the BA and BS inoculants have positive effects on silages, then they could not only improve fermentation characteristics, but also deliver BA or BS viable cells to ruminants, which would play its probiotic effect. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of BA and BS on the fermentation, chemical characteristics, bacterial community and their metabolic pathway of whole-plant corn silage.
Freshly chopped whole-plant corn was inoculated without or with BA and BS, respectively, and ensiled for 1, 3, 7, 14 and 60 d. Results showed that BA and BS inoculations increased lactic acid concentrations of whole-plant corn silages compared with control, and BA inoculation decreased acetic acid concentrations, whereas BS inoculation decreased fiber contents and increased crude protein (CP) content. Higher water-soluble carbohydrate contents and lower starch contents were observed in BA- and BS-inoculated silages compared with that in control. The decreased CP content and increased non-protein nitrogen content were observed in BA-inoculated silage, which was consistent with the higher amino acid metabolism abundances observed in BA-inoculated silage. In addition, it was noteworthy that BA and BS inoculations increased the metabolism of cofactors and vitamins, and decreased the relative abundances of drug resistance: antimicrobial pathways. We also found that the bacterial metabolism pathways were clearly separated into three clusters based on the ensiling times of whole-plant corn silage in the present study. There were no significant differences in bacterial community compositions among the three groups during ensiling. However, BA and BS inoculations decreased the relative abundances of undesirable bacteria such as Acetobacter and Acinetobacter.
Our findings suggested that the BS strain was more suitable as silage inoculants than the BA strain in whole-plant corn silage in this study.
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