Fibrolytic enzymes and microbial inoculants have the potential to improve fiber degradability. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment was conducted to determine the nutritive value, ruminal degradability, and degradation rates of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and oat (Avena sativa L.) pretreated with fibrolytic enzyme (xylanase plus cellulase: XC) or bacterial [Promote ASB (Lactobacillus buchneri and L. plantarum); PRO] inoculants at two maturities. Forage was harvested twice during the tillering stage (H1 and H2) and a third time as stover (H3). Forage from H1 had less neutral detergent fiber (NDF; 43.8% dry‐matter [DM] basis) and acid detergent fiber (ADF; 31.2% DM basis) and greater in vitro true digestibility (IVTD; 78.5%) concentrations than H3 (69.0 and 45.3% DM basis, and 51.9%, respectively). The IVTD was greater for oat (55.0%) than wheat (50.7%). Chemical composition was not affected by inoculant; however, inoculant did affect ruminal degradability and degradation rates. Potentially degradable DM, NDF, and ADF and effective ruminal degradability were greater for wheat and oat at tillering. Treatment of oat or wheat with XC or PRO enhanced potential degradability and reduced undegradable fractions. Both XC and PRO may be used to degrade the fiber fractions of small‐grain forage.

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.