An evaluation of an inoculant/enzyme preparation as an additive for grass silage for dairy cattle

Abstract

Herbage from the first regrowth of perennial ryegrass-based swards was directly ensiled after treatment with a bacterial inoculant/enzyme preparation (SIL-ALL, Alltech UK) at 3·0 l t Ϫ1 , formic acid (850 g kg Ϫ1 ) at 2·59 l t Ϫ1 or no additive (Control). The mean dry matter (DM) and water-soluble carbohydrate concentrations of the grass were 185 and 24·0 g kg Ϫ1 (fresh basis) respectively. Lactic acid concentrations after ensiling increased at a lower rate in formic acid-treated herbage than with the other treatments. All silages were well preserved and formic acid-treated silage had a lower ultimate concentration of lactic acid and higher concentration of water-soluble carbohydrate. Effluent output was increased on a proportional basis by ≈0·06 with formic treatment, whereas the inoculant reduced effluent output by 0·05 in comparison with the mean effluent production of the control silage. The in vivo digestibilities of the silages were determined using sheep. The digestibilities of DM, organic matter and energy were significantly higher with inoculanttreated silage than with formic acid treatment, whereas values for the control silage were intermediate. The three silages were offered ad libitum to forty dairy cows with individual recording of daily intakes for a 10-week period in a randomized block experiment with four treatments. Sixteen animals were offered the control silage with half of these offered 3 kg concentrates per day (C3) and the other half offered 7 kg concentrates per day (C7). Twelve animals were allocated to each of the additivetreated silages, with concentrates offered at 5 kg d Ϫ1 . Treatment effects on animal performance were measured in weeks 7-10. To compare animal performance for the treated silages with the control, an estimate of performance at 5 kg concentrates per day was obtained by regression using values obtained at 3 and 7 kg concentrates. In comparison with estimated silage intake for the control silage with 5 kg d Ϫ1 concentrates, inoculant and formic acid treatment of the silages increased dry matter intake by 0·04 (P > 0·05) and 0·13 (P < 0·01) respectively. In comparison with estimated milk production and yield of fat plus protein for the control treatment with 5 kg d Ϫ1 concentrates, neither inoculant treatment nor formic acid treatment produced any significant differences.

Effects of Addition Microbial Inoculants or Formic Acid to Whole Corn Plant at Ensiling on Silage Quality, Nutritive Value and Rumen Fermentation in Sheep and Milk Yield and Composition of Lactation Cows.

“…While, cows fed un-treated silage recorded the lowest (P< 0.05) DM silage intake. These results were inagreement with Petterson et al, (1997) who found that DM intake increased with silage containing lower percentage of acetic acid. Many studies have been reported a positive effect of formic acid and bacterial inoculants on increased silage intake and a beneficial effect on cattle performance Zwi (2003).…”

Effects of Addition of Lactobacillus plantarum and Enterococcus faecium Inoculants to High-Nitrogen Fertilized Timothy (Phleum pratense L.) on Fermentation, Nutritive Value, and Feed Intake of Silage

“…No difference was noted in the DM and TDN intake between HI and HC, which may have been due to the absence of an increase in the DM intake of HI, not leading to an increase in the TDN intake, although the TDN content increased. Regarding the DM intake of silage with the addition of inoculant, Winters et al [43] reported an increase in the intake of Italian ryegrass silage, whereas no increases in the intake of perennial ryegrass, alfalfa, and mixed-seeded grass and legume silage were reported by Patterson et al [44], Kung et al [45], and Stokes [46], respectively, showing no consistent tendency. Since the DCP and TDN contents, and DCP intake of HI were higher than those of SC and SI, silage with the high DCP and TDN contents, and DCP intake may have been prepared by the addition of inoculant to the high-CP grass material.…”