Lentilactobacillus hilgardii Inoculum, Dry Matter Contents at Harvest and Length of Conservation Affect Fermentation Characteristics and Aerobic Stability of Corn Silage

Heterofermentative Lentilactobacillus hilgardii isolated from sugarcane silage, has recently been proposed as a silage inoculant to increase aerobic stability. Various conditions can influence the activity of LAB and their ability to alter silage quality (e.g., DM content and length of conservation). The aim of this study has been to evaluate the effect of L. hilgardii on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of whole crop corn silage with different DM contents (from 26 to 45%), conserved for various conservation lengths (13–272 days). The silages were analyzed for their DM content, pH, fermentative profile, microbial count, and aerobic stability. L. hilgardii showed a positive effect on improving the aerobic stability of silages, due its ability to produce acetic acid, and reduced the yeast count. The acetic acid content increased as the conservation period increased and decreased as the DM content increased. The yeast count was reduced during conservation in a DM dependent manner and the inoculation with LH determined a reduction in the count of 0.48 log cfu/g. The aerobic stability increased as the conservation period increased, and the treatment with LH on average increased the aerobic stability by 19 h. The results of this experiment suggest that higher aerobic stability could be achieved in corn silages by ensiling at medium or low DM contents, or by increasing the length of conservation if a higher DM content at ensiling is needed. The inoculation with LH helps to improve the aerobic stability of corn silages by reducing the yeast count.

93 Evaluation of the intake and digestibility of ensiled residual material from edamame soybean processing with and without the use of an inoculant

This research evaluated the effects of ensiled edamame soybean processing waste on ruminant intake and total tract digestibility. Waste from processing stored edamame was obtained (3 trips) and wilted (28%, 25%, and 37% DM), then treated with or without inoculant (Lactobacillus buchneri) and ensiled in 167 L plastic barrels (2 or 3 barrels/treatment from each trip) for 72 (Trip 1) or 69 (Trip 2 and 3) days. Pregnant ewes (n = 18; body weight = 55.5 ± 1.2 kg; 2 to 3 years old) were blocked by body weight and assigned randomly within a block to treatments within a trip, then each ewe was assigned to a barrel of silage. Ewes were housed individually in 1 × 1.5-m pens and offered silage for a 10-day adaptation period followed by 7 days of total feces and urine collection. Ewes were offered silage to allow for 10% orts and were offered 0.2% of their body weight of soyhulls and 32 g of mineral supplement/day to meet their predicted nutrient requirements for gestating ewes. Ewes consumed 1,616 ± 54 g DM/day (X ± SEM) or 2.9 ± 0.12% of their body weight and there was no effect (P ≥ 0.85) of inoculant treatment on DM intake (g/day or % of body weight). Dry matter digestibility was not affected (P = 0.98) by inoculant and averaged 55.7 ± 0.66%. Ewe average daily gain for the 17-day trial tended to be greater (P = 0.08) for the ewes offered the silage without inoculant (0.18 vs. 0.04 kg/d). Ensiling edamame processing waste yielded a feed that ewes consumed in adequate amounts to maintain their body weights over 17 days when also supplemented with soyhulls. The addition of silage inoculant had minimal effects on intake, digestibility, or ewe body weight change.

PSVIII-25 Evaluation of different ensiling methods of the residual material from edamame soybean processing

This research evaluated the storage and feeding value of residual from edamame soybean production on a laboratory scale. Two types of residual or waste material (waste from harvesting, and waste from processing stored material) were ensiled in 500-gram silos (≥ 3 silos per treatment). Material from harvest (a single trip) was ensiled either without wilting (fresh, 71% moisture) or after wilting to a target of 60% moisture; while material from processing (4 replicate trips) was ensiled at 80 (fresh), and targets of 65, 50, and 35% moisture; material at each targeted moisture level was ensiled with and without a commercial lactic acid bacterial inoculant (Lactobacillus buchneri). Dry matter loss and pH were determined after 42 (harvest waste) or 50 (processing waste) days of ensiling. Pre-ensiled processing waste material was 57% NDF, 39.4% ADF, 12.1% CP. and 8.1% ash (average of material from 3 trips). For harvest waste, there was an inoculant by ensiling DM interaction (P = 0.05) for post-ensiling pH. Ensiled fresh material without inoculant had the lowest pH (5.3) and fresh material ensiled with inoculant had a greater pH (5.5) but both were lower than either inoculant treatments using dryer material (6.5). Recoveries of DM after ensiling tended to be greater with the inoculant (89.8 vs. 86.2%). For processing waste, there was a quadratic effect of ensiling DM (P < 0.01), with post-ensiling pH being lowest for fresh and 22% DM (4.4 and 4.6) then increasing to 5.2 and 6.7 when ensiled at 46 and 74% DM. There was no effect of inoculant or an inoculant by ensiling DM on post-ensiling pH. As expected, ensiling wetter material resulted in a lower post-ensiling pH for both residual materials. Adding a silage inoculant had minimal effects on pH but tended to increase the recoveries of DM from the harvest waste.

89 Fermentation Kinetics of Different Cool-Season Annual Mixtures With or Without Silage Inoculant

High moisture feeds such as baleage are becoming a more practiced feed storage method in the Southeast due to the ability for more timely harvests and consistent forage quality compared with dry hay. The objective of this study was to determine the nutritive quality and fermentation kinetics of three different cool-season annual mixtures stored as baleage. The forage treatments were wheat (Triticum aestivum) + T-Raptor (Brassica rapa × napus; WT), wheat + crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum; WC), and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) + oats (Avena sativa) + crimson clover (ROC) which were planted at the E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter, AL, as a 3 × 2 × 8 factorial design (n = 3). Forage was either inoculated (I) or not inoculated (N) with a cereal/grass silage inoculant to determine its efficacy in promoting proper fermentation. Samples were taken at 8 different days after ensiling to determine fermentation kinetics and quality. Crude protein of WC was greater (P ≤ 0.005) than all other forage treatments (17.1%) and wheat + crimson clover-I was greater (P = 0.024) than WC-N (17.7 and 16.4%, respectively). However, ROC–N had greater (P = 0.033) CP than ROC–I (16.5 and 15.0%, respectively). Wheat + T-raptor ensiled with the lowest (P ≤ 0.003) pH while ROC had the greatest (P ≤ 0.001; 4.5 and 5.4, respectively). Forage treatments WC and WT did not differ (P = 0.140) in lactic acid concentration (3.7%); however, both were greater (P ≤ 0.001) than ROC (0.9%). There were no differences (P ≥ 0.128) in acetic acid concentration among all forage treatments (3.5%). The results of this study indicate that WC had the greatest nutrient quality, but do not indicate that silage inoculants offer benefits to baleage fermentation kinetics.

Using Lactic Acid Bacteria as Silage Inoculants or Direct-Fed Microbials to Improve In Vitro Degradability and Reduce Methane Emissions in Dairy Cows

The current study has two objectives: (1) To determine the effect of different lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains’ inoculant on silage quality of fresh ryegrass (FR) and rain-treated ryegrass (RTR), and (2) to find the optimal way (silage inoculant vs. direct-fed microbial (DFM)) to use LAB strains in order to improve nutrient digestibility and reduce methane emission (CH4) in ruminant production. Five LAB strains were tested, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum AGR-1, L. plantarum AGR-2, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar diacetylactis AGR-3, L. lactis subsp. lactis AGR-4 and L. lactis subsp. lactis AGR-5. Each LAB strain was inoculated at 106 cfu/g fresh weight into the FR and the RTR and ensiled for 60 days. After ensiling, the effect of LAB strains included as a DFM or silage inoculant on rumen digestibility and CH4 production were measured using an in vitro gas production system with three separate runs. The in vitro experiment consisted of 24 treatments (2 grasses (FR and RTR) × 2 ways (inoculant or DFM) × 6 strains (5 LAB strains + 1 Control)). The results indicated that the LAB strains’ inoculant treatments reduced (p < 0.0001) the dry matter (DM) losses, the NH3 concentration (p < 0.0001) and the pH (p = 0.0019) upon ensiling in both the FR and the RTR. The lowest values in dry matter (DM) loss and NH3 concentration were found in the L. plantarum (AGR-2) and L. lactis (AGR-5). The in vitro CH4 production was lower for silages inoculated with L. plantarum (AGR-1, p = 0.0054), L. lactis (AGR-4, p = 0.026), L. lactis (AGR-5, p = 0.029) and L. plantarum (AGR-2, p = 0.090), compared to the control. Methane production was lower (p = 0.0027) for LABs when used as silage inoculants, compared to being used as DFM. Lactic acid bacteria used as silage inoculants increased (p ≤ 0.0001) the in vitro DM and organic matter (OM) degradability both in the FR and the RTR, whereas LAB strains used as DFM showed no such effect. The DM and OM digestibility were highest in the L. plantarum (AGR-1, p = 0.0175). Among the five LAB strains used in the current study, L. plantarum (AGR-2) was the best candidate to improve silage quality. Our observations suggest that these LAB strains are most promising when used as silage inoculants and to be confirmed in vivo.

Effects of inoculation of corn silage with Lactobacillus spp. or Saccharomyces cerevisiae alone or in combination on silage fermentation characteristics, nutrient digestibility, and growth performance of growing beef cattle

This study evaluated the effects of a novel silage inoculant containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain 3 as a direct fed microbial (DFM) on the ensiling, aerobic stability, and nutrient digestibility of whole-crop corn silage and growth performance of beef cattle. Treatments included uninoculated corn silage (CON) or corn silage inoculated with a mixture of 1.1 × 105 cfu g−1 fresh forage Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus buchneri (INOC1) or 1.0 × 104 cfu g−1 fresh forage S. cerevisiae strain 3 (INOC2) or a mixture of INOC1 and INOC2 (INOC3). Silage in INOC1 had lower (P = 0.03) proportion of lactate, with acetate (Ac) proportion ranking as INOC1 &gt; INOC3 &gt; INOC2 (P &lt; 0.01). In terminal silage, numbers of lactic acid bacteria were greater (P = 0.05) for INOC1 than CON and INOC2, while yeast counts tended (P = 0.08) to be greater for INOC2 than INOC3 on day 3 of aerobic exposure. Aerobic stability of corn silage was not impacted by inoculation with S. cerevisiae strain 3. Heifers fed INOC2 and INOC3 had lower (P &lt; 0.01) ruminal Ac concentration than those fed CON. Apparent total tract digestibilities of DM, OM, ADF, and NDF were greater (P ≤ 0.03) for heifers fed INOC2 than those fed CON. Growth performance was similar across treatments, excepting DMI as percent of BW tended to be lower (P = 0.08) for INOC2 steers compared to CON steers. These results suggest that S. cerevisiae strain 3 has potential as a component in a fourth generation DFM silage inoculant.

Microbial characterization and fermentative characteristics of crop maize ensiled with unsalable vegetables

Incorporation of carrot or pumpkin at 0, 20 or 40% dry matter (DM-basis) with crop maize, with or without a silage inoculant was evaluated after 70 days ensiling for microbial community diversity, nutrient composition, and aerobic stability. Inclusion of carrots or pumpkin had a strong effect on the silage bacterial community structure but not the fungal community. Bacterial microbial richness was also reduced (P = 0.01) by increasing vegetable proportion. Inverse Simpson’s diversity increased (P = 0.04) by 18.3% with carrot maize silage as opposed to pumpkin maize silage at 20 or 40% DM. After 70 d ensiling, silage bacterial microbiota was dominated by Lactobacillus spp. and the fungal microbiota by Candida tropicalis, Kazachstania humilis and Fusarium denticulatum. After 14 d aerobic exposure, fungal diversity was not influenced (P ≥ 0.13) by vegetable type or proportion of inclusion in the silage. Inoculation of vegetable silage lowered silage surface temperatures on day-7 (P = 0.03) and day-14 (P ≤ 0.01) of aerobic stability analysis. Our findings suggest that ensiling unsalable vegetables with crop maize can successfully replace forage at 20 or 40% DM to produce a high-quality livestock feed.

97 Nutritive value and fermentation characteristics of cool-season annual baleage

Baleage production is gaining popularity in the Southeast due to the ability for more timely harvests and more consistent forage quality compared with hay. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of cool-season mixtures for baleage production. Wheat (Triticum aestivum) with T-Raptor (Brassica rapa × napus; WT) or crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum; WC) were planted at the E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter, AL as a 2 × 2 factorial design (n = 3). Forage was treated or un-treated with silage inoculant to determine its efficacy in promoting proper fermentation. Samples were taken at 7 different time intervals to determine fermentation characteristics and quality. There was no difference (P ≥ 0.15) in ADF concentration among treatments, but day 120 after ensiling was greater (P ≤ 0.002) than all other sampling dates. There was no difference (P ≥ 0.11) in NDF between forages, silage inoculants, or among days and averaged 50.75%. The CP of the WC treatment was greater (P ≤ 0.0001) than WT by 3.6 units. Inoculated forage was greater (P ≤ 0.0001) than non-inoculated by 1.06 units. Crude protein was greater (P = 0.005) on day 120 than day 0. Inoculated WT had greater (P < 0.0001) total acid content than non-inoculated (8.35 vs. 6.19%, respectively). Wheat+clover had 1.5 units more total acid than WT. Inoculated forage had greater (P ≤ 0.0006) total acid present than non-inoculated forage. Butyric acid concentration increased (P ≤ 0.0001) with increasing days after ensiling. Butyric acid tended to be greater (P = 0.05) in WC than WT, likely due to increased pH in clover treatments as a result of legume buffering capacity. The results indicate that silage inoculants offer minimal benefits to baleage fermentation when using cool-season annual mixtures