Effects of a dual-purpose bacterial inoculant on the fermentation characteristics of high-moisture maize silage and dairy cattle performance

Abstract

________________________________________________________________________________ AbstractThe objective of this study was to investigate the effects of inoculating Lactisil Maize, a dual-purpose inoculant, on the fermentation characteristics and nutritive value of high-moisture maize silage and the performance of lactating cows receiving the silage in their diets. Whole-crop maize was harvested at 253 g dry matter (DM)/kg fresh crop. Maize silage was produced with or without Lactisil Maize and ensiled in two different bunkers. Eight multiparous lactating Holstein dairy cows were used in a replicated 2 × 2 Latin square experimental design and were fed total mixed rations that contained 230 g/kg of either inoculated or control maize silage. Inoculation did not affect the nutritive value or the aerobic stability of the maize silage, but increased the neutral detergent and acid detergent fibre fractions of the silage. However, inoculation increased the concentrations of acetic acid and lactic acid, but reduced ammonia N concentration compared to the control. Cows fed the Lactisil Maize-inoculated silage had a lower DM intake, milk yield, and yields of milk fat and milk protein were lower, compared to control. The digestibility of nutrients was not affected by inoculation. It was concluded that although Lactisil Maize inoculation improved the fermentation quality of high-moisture maize silage, it did not improve aerobic stability of the silage or the production performance of dairy cows compared to the control. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Ensiling corn silage with different levels of a multi-species lactic acid bacteria inoculant

“…Lactic and acetic acid concentrations were higher in inoculated silages than in the respective control silage. This finding agrees with those of Kleinschmit and Kung (2006) and Mohammadzadeh et al (2011) who reported higher concentrations of lactic acid and acetic acid in response to inoculation of corn crops with a mixture of homo-and heterofermentative LAB. A higher application level of the inoculant resulted in elevated concentrations of lactic and acetic acid in the HD silage.…”

“…The pH was higher in inoculanttreated silages due to a higher concentration of acetic acid and a lower ratio of lactic to acetic acid. Silages inoculated with L. buchneri usually have a higher pH than does the control or silages treated with homofermentative LAB (Mari et al 2009;Kristensen et al 2010;Mohammadzadeh et al 2011). LAB use mainly WSC as a substrate during fermentation and produce lactic acid and VFA to gain energy for growth and proliferation (McDonald et al 1991).…”

Meta-analysis of effects of inoculation with Lactobacillus buchneri, with or without other bacteria, on silage fermentation, aerobic stability, and performance of dairy cows

“…The diamond at the bottom represents the mean response across the studies. WMD = weighted raw mean differences between LB-inoculated and uninoculated treatments (Sutton et al, 2002;Bayatkouhsar et al, 2011;Mohammadzadeh et al, 2011Mohammadzadeh et al, , 2012Andrade et al, 2016;Santos et al, 2017)…”