Fermentation Quality and in Vitro Nutrient Digestibility of Fresh Rice Straw-Based Silage Treated with Lactic Acid Bacteria

The aim of the experiment was to evaluate fermentation characteristics and in vitro nutrient digestibility of fresh rice straw-based silage ensiled with addition of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculant. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design, with 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. The first factor was the ratio of fresh rice straw (FRS), tofu waste (TW) and cassava waste (CW) consisted of two levels i.e., 40 : 20 : 40 and 40 : 25 : 35, on dry matter (DM) basis). The second factor was the level of LAB inoculant with two levels ie., 0 and 20 mL/kg FM. The treatments were (A) FRS + TW + CW with the ratio of 40 : 20 : 40, without LAB inoculant; (B) FRS + TW + CW with the ratio of 40 : 20 : 40 + LAB inoculant; (C) FRS + TW + CW with the ratio of 40 : 25 : 35, without LAB inoculant; (D) FRS + TW + CW with ratio of 40 : 25 : 35 + LAB inoculant. Results showed that addition of LAB inoculant in silage increased lactic acid concentration (P0.05) on chemical composition, fermentation quality of silage and in vitro digestibility. It was concluded that mixture silage with ratio of 40 : 20 : 40 with the addition of LAB inoculant had the best fermentation quality and nutrient digestibility than other silages

Effect of lactid acid bacteria inoculants, formic acid, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate on fermentation quality and aerobic stability of wilted grass silage

The efficiency of a novel strain of lactic acid bacteria inoculant (Lactobacillus plantarum VTT E-78076, E76) on the fermentation quality of wilted silage was studied. Furthermore, the possibility to improve aerobic stability of silages by combining an inoculant and chemical preservatives was investigated. Two experiments were conducted with wilted timothy-meadow fescue herbage (dry matter 429 and 344 g kg-1) using six treatments. In experiment I, E76 (106 cfu g-1 fresh matter (FM)) was applied alone and in combination with sodium benzoate (0.3 g kg-1 grass FM) or low rate of formic acid (0.4 l t-1 FM). In experiment II, E76 and a commercial inoculant were applied alone and in combination with sodium benzoate. Untreated silage and formic acid (4 l t-1 FM) treated silage served as negative and positive controls in both experiments. The effect of sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate in experiment I, on aerobic stability was tested by treating silages prior to aerobic stability measurements. The novel lactic acid bacteria inoculant was equally effective in improving fermentation quality as the commercial inoculant. However, the aerobic stability of both inoculated silages was poorer than that of formic acid treated or the untreated one in one of the experiments. The results suggested that antimicrobial properties of E76 were not effective enough to improve aerobic instability. One option to overcome this problem is to use chemical additives in combination with the inoculants

In vitro degradability, gas production, and energy value of different hybrids of sorghum after storage in mini-silos

Abstract This experiment compared silages obtained from 3 hybrids of sorghum grown on 2 farms of the Po Valley (one irrigated and one not), in terms of in vitro degradability, gas production (GP), and energy value. Hybrids (forage, sweet or grain genotypes) were sown in experimental plots (3 plots × 3 hybrids), harvested at late-milk stage of maturity, and ensiled into mini-silos (3 silos × 3 hybrids) for 60 d. After ensiling, silages were analyzed for composition and fermentation profile. Two incubations (at 48 h) were carried out to measure NDF degradability (NDFd), GP, and the metabolizable energy (ME) content of silages. Data of silage composition were submitted to ANOVA, considering farm (F), hybrid (H), and F × H interaction as variation sources. Incubation (run) was also considered as a fixed effect in the statistical model for the parameters obtained by in vitro incubation (NDFd, GP, and energy content). On the irrigated farm (Farm 2), the DM contents of silages were higher than those of the non-irrigated one (P&lt;0.001) and the fermentation profile was more favorable. Values of GP at 24 and 48 h and ME content were higher (P&lt;0.05) for silages of Farm 2 in comparison with Farm 1. Within hybrids, the grain sorghum revealed the greatest DM content whereas the forage sorghum, as expected, was the richest in fibrous fraction content, followed by the sweet and grain genotypes (P&lt;0.001). Consequently, values of GP were significantly (P&lt;0.01) influenced by hybrid (167, 200, 215 ml/g DM and 229, 257, 267 ml/g DM for forage, sweet and grain genotypes after 24 and 48 h of incubation, respectively). The F × H interaction was significant for all considered parameters excluding DM, lignin, ash, pH, and in vitro parameters. On the two farms, in general, forage and grain genotypes were largely different, whereas the sweet sorghum was quite similar to the forage in one case or grain in the other. Results of this experiment highlight the large variability of the nutritional values of sorghum hybrids grown in different conditions.</jats:p

A note on the evaluation of the acid-insoluble ash technique as a method for determining apparent diet digestibility in beef cattle.

peer-reviewedThe objective was to determine if the acid-insoluble ash (AIA) method provided accurate estimates of in vivo apparent digestibility compared with the standard total faecal collection (TFC) method. Twelve steers, mean live weight 328 (s.d. 27.3) kg, were offered one of three diets based on whole-crop wheat (WCW) or a grass silage (GS) diet in a 4 × 4 latin square design. Apparent dietary digestibility was determined simultaneously using AIA and TFC methods. Agreement between the two methods depended on diet type, with acceptable agreement (a difference between the methods of 0.06), observed with the WCW-based diets. However, the strength of the agreement was weakened with the inclusion of GS. Agreement statistics were found to be a useful tool for assessing the relationship between the two methods of measurement.This study was funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Research Stimulus Fund 05 224)

Conservation characteristics of baled grass silages differing in duration of wilting, bale density and number of layers of plastic stretch-film

peer-reviewedThe effects of duration of wilting, bale density and number of layers of plastic stretchfilm used to wrap bales on the conservation characteristics of baled grass silage was investigated. Grass from the primary growth of a Lolium perenne dominant sward was wilted for 24, 48 or 72 h. For each duration of wilting, 54 cylindrical bales (1.2 m nominal diameter) were made with the baler at a high or low density setting for alternate bales. Bales were wrapped with 2, 4 or 6 layers of plastic stretch-film and stored outdoors for 295 days. Two layers of plastic stretch-film resulted in inferior preservation, lower digestibility and extensive mould growth and deteriorated silage. Substantial improvement occurred to each of these characteristics from applying four layers of stretch-film (P<0.05), while six layers of stretch-film brought little further improvement. When four or six layers of stretch-film were used, extensive wilting restricted fermentation and improved the standard of preservation with the apparently difficult-to-preserve herbage used in this experiment. However, under the anaerobic conditions provided by four or six layers of stretch-film neither progressive wilting nor bale density had a major effect on digestibility, or the extent of surface mould growth or deteriorated silage. It can be concluded that a minimum of four layers of conventional black plastic stretch-film were required to achieve suitably anaerobic conditions, and that the additional benefits from six layers were small. Once anaerobic conditions were achieved, extensive wilting improved the conservation characteristics of baled grass silage made from a difficult-to-preserve crop, whereas bale density had little impact

A note on the fermentation characteristics of red clover silage in response to advancing stage of maturity in the primary growth Corrigendum

Corrigendum to Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, Volume 51, Number 1, 2012, pages 79–84. Available at http://hdl.handle.net/11019/324Corrigendu

A note on ensiling characteristics of the tropical grass Setaria sphacelata var. splendida (Stapf).

The objective of this study was to evaluate the ensiling characteristics of Setaria sphacelata var. splendida (S. splendida) and to identify ensilability limiting factors of this tropical grass, locally produced

Manipulating the ensilage of wilted, unchopped grass through the use of additive treatments

peer-reviewedBaled silage composition frequently differs from that of comparable conventional precision-chop silage. The lower final concentration of fermentation products in baled silage makes it more conducive to the activities of undesirable microorganisms. Silage additives can be used to encourage beneficial microbial activity and/or inhibit detrimental microbial activity. The experiment was organised in a 2 (chop treatments) × 6 (additive treatments) × 2 (stages of ensilage) factorial arrangement of treatments (n = 3 silos/treatment) to suggest additive treatments for use in baled silage production that would help create conditions more inhibitory to the activities of undesirable microorganisms and realise an outcome comparable to precision-chop silage. Chopping the herbage prior to ensiling, in the absence of an additive treatment, improved the silage fermentation. In the unchopped herbage, where the fermentation was poorer, the lactic acid bacterial inoculant resulted in an immediate increase (P < 0.001) in lactic acid concentration and a faster decline (P < 0.001) in pH with a subsequent reduction in butyric acid (P < 0.001) and ammonia-N (P < 0.01) concentrations. When sucrose was added in addition to the lactic acid bacterial inoculant, the combined treatment had a more pronounced effect on pH, butyric acid and ammonia-N values at the end of ensilage. The formic acid based additive and the antimicrobial mixture restricted the activities of undesirable microorganisms resulting in reduced concentrations of butyric acid (P < 0.001) and ammonia-N (P < 0.01). These additives offer a potential to create conditions in baled silage more inhibitory to the activities of undesirable microorganisms.A Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Research Scholarship awarded to J. McEniry supported this study