Effect of microbial inoculants on the quality and aerobic stability of bermudagrass round-bale haylage

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of using 4 commercially available microbial inoculants to improve the fermentation and aerobic stability of bermudagrass haylage. We hypothesized that the microbial inoculants would increase the fermentation and aerobic stability of the haylages. Bermudagrass (4-wk regrowth) was harvested and treated with (1) deionized water (control); (2) Buchneri 500 (B500; Lallemand Animal Nutrition, Milwaukee, WI) containing 1×10(5) of Pediococcus pentosaceus and 4×10(5) of Lactobacillus buchneri 40788; (3) Biotal Plus II (BPII; Lallemand Animal Nutrition) containing 1.2×10(5) of P. pentosaceus and Propionibacteria freudenreichii; (4) Silage Inoculant II (SI; AgriKing Inc., Fulton, IL) containing 1×10(5) of Lactobacillus plantarum and P. pentosaceus; and (5) Silo King (SK; AgriKing Inc.), containing 1×10(5) of L. plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, and P. pentosaceus, respectively. Forty round bales (8 per treatment; 441±26kg; 1.2×1.2 m diameter) were made and each was wrapped with 7 layers of plastic. Twenty bales were stored for 112 d and the remaining 20 were stored for 30 d and sampled by coring after intermediary storage periods of 0, 3, 7, and 30 d. The pH of control and inoculated haylages sampled on d 3 did not differ. However, B500 and BPII had lower pH (5.77±0.04 vs. 6.16±0.04; 5.06±0.13 vs. 5.52±0.13) than other treatments by d 7 and 30, respectively. At final bale opening on d 112, all treatments had lower pH than the control haylage (4.77±0.07 vs. 5.37±0.07). The B500, BPII, and SI haylages had greater lactic acid and lactic-to-acetic acid ratios than SK and control haylages. No differences were detected in neutral detergent fiber digestibility, dry matter losses, dry matter, lactic and acetic acid concentrations, and yeast and coliform counts. The SK haylage had lower clostridia counts compared with the control (1.19±0.23 vs. 1.99±0.23 cfu/g). Treatments B500, BPII, SI, and SK tended to reduce mold counts and they improved aerobic stability by 236, 197, 188, and 95%, respectively, compared with the control (276±22 vs. 99±22h).

Laboratory silo type and inoculation effects on nutritional composition, fermentation, and bacterial and fungal communities of oat silage

“…Our results agree with the results of Arriola et al (2011) who used the same inoculant product and reported a lower NDF concentration in corn silage when the inoculated silage was compared with noninoculated silage (42 vs. 44, respectively; % of DM). However, other reports from experiments using the same inoculant indicate no effect on NDF concentration of corn (Reich and Kung, 2010;Queiroz et al, 2013) or bermudagrass silage (Adesogan et al, 2004;Arriola et al, 2015). Reports are limited on small-grain cereal silage trials using the inoculant product used in this study or with the same combination of bacterial species.…”

“…Aerobic stability was measured only for BKT treatments by putting 3 kg of silage in an open plastic bucket (33 × 31 cm height and diameter, respectively) following the procedure described by Arriola et al (2015). Temperature sensors (HOBO temperature data logger 64 k, Onset Computer Co., Bourne, MA) were placed at the center of the biomass, and data were recorded every 30 min for 29 d. Two additional sensors were placed in the temperature-controlled room (22.3 ± 0.23°C) to record ambient temperature.…”

Detection, identification, and typing of Listeria species from baled silages fed to dairy cows

“…Among the various silage conservation methods, wrapped bales are commonly used in Europe to preserve the quality of forage from meadows (Wilkinson and Toivonen, 2003;McEniry et al, 2007) and are gaining popularity in the United States in the last decade (Han et al, 2006;Arriola et al, 2015). Baled silage is often made from herbage that is wilted more extensively and presented more limited fermentation than conventional bunker silo silage, as it reduces the number of bales per hectare, plastic consumption, and costs, and can be more convenient when fed to animals (Han et al, 2006;McEniry et al, 2007;Tabacco et al, 2013).…”

Nutritional composition and fermentative characteristics of Massai grass silage added with licuri (Syagrus coronata) cake

“…However, it is evident that the inclusion of licuri cake can increase the dry matter (DM) content of the silage and that, even at the optimal vegetative stage for grazing or cutting and despite its nutritional value; thus justifying the use of this cake as an efficient compound for moisture sequestration. Without the use of the additive, the DM content of the silage was 224 g kg -1 , which is below the level recommended in the literature (ARRIOLA et al, 2015;GANCHE et al, 2015;LOPES et al, 2015;FERREIRA et al, 2016). Dry matter content (213 g kg -1 as fed) of massai grass (Table 1) is not within the recommended range for ensiling.…”