Potential of Ensiling Sorghum without Grain Pretreated with Enzymes or Bacterial Inoculants

Abstract

Silage is an alternative product from sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] that does not make grain due to drought, disease, or pests. The objective of this experiment was to determine nutritive value and fermentation characteristics of silage made from sorghum without grain and evaluate the impact of pretreatment with fibrolytic enzymes or lactic acid bacterial inoculants. Triplicate plots (4 rows ×12.2 m) of four sorghum cultivars (Dairy Master, PS 747, Silo 700D, and MMR 381/73 [MMR]) were planted in a completely randomized block design field trial at three locations (Beeville, College Station, and Kingsville, TX). At the mid‐dough stage, sorghum was harvested and inflorescences were removed, chopped, and separated into three (5 kg) subsamples. Each subsample was treated with either distilled water (control), fibrolytic enzyme, or bacterial inoculant and ensiled for 120 d. Pre‐ensiled sorghum without grain had similar nutritive value, except Dairy Master had 25% lower crude protein and 30% lower lignin concentrations. After ensiling, water‐soluble carbohydrate concentration was lowest and crude protein concentration was greatest for MMR silage, which also had the greatest acetate concentration and lactate/acetate ratio. Silage treated with either lactic acid bacterial inoculant or fibrolytic enzyme had 40% greater water‐soluble carbohydrate concentration. Silage treated with fibrolytic enzyme had 8% lower neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber concentrations than untreated silage, and treated silage had lower pH than untreated silage. The pH of all silage was <4.0, and pretreatment did not improve silage fermentation characteristics or increase aerobic stability. The cultivar was more influential to the resulting silage product than pretreatment in this experiment.

Succession changes of fermentation parameters, nutrient components and bacterial community of sorghum stalk silage

“…Moreover, it is recommended not to use until the silage fermentation reaches to its plateau, which could assure the constant components supply in raw materials. To the present, much research has evaluated the nutritional value of sorghum stalk and its silage as well as the effects of kinds of processing methods ( Foster et al, 2019 ; Dos Santos et al, 2021 ; Puntillo et al, 2022 ), but little literature makes efforts to study the dynamic changes of sorghum stalk silage, especially bacterial community.…”

Forages and pastures symposium: an update on in vitro and in situ experimental techniques for approximation of ruminal fiber degradation

“…With modeling, IV and IS techniques can bring together measures of fiber, which are laboratory measures, to in vivo apparent digestibility and intake, which are animal-influenced measures, as a proxy to expensive and time- and labor-consuming feeding trials, which require much larger amounts of feedstuffs and more animal experimental units. Ranking of IV or IS results can help determine forages in breeding programs that are most suitable for advancement ( Foster et al, 2007 ), impact of genetic traits on potential animal performance ( McCuistion et al, 2017 ), the ideal maturity stage for harvest ( Foster et al, 2012 ), harvested forage preservation method ( Foster et al, 2011 , 2012 ), harvested forage preservation aids such as enzyme or microbial applications before ensiling ( Thomas et al, 2013 , 2014 ; McCuistion et al, 2017 ; Foster et al, 2019 ), alternative uses of row crop residues ( Foster et al, 2012 , 2019 ), supplementation regimes ( Smith et al, 2017 ), and among many other applications.…”