Effect of using inoculant on elephant grass silage with additives

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the use of inoculant on silage of elephant grass, wet brewery waste and buriti meal at different silo opening times. The experimental silage tested was composed of 50% elephant grass, 30% wet brewery waste, and 20% buriti meal. The experimental design was randomized block in a factorial arrangement (2 x 4), where the treatments consisted of the use or not of inoculant during silage processing, and four silo opening times (7, 14, 21, and 28 days). Data collected were firstly subjected to ANOVA and subsequent Tukey’s test. Results were considered significant at p ≤ 0.05. The use of inoculant in silage production provided more acidic pH (p < 0.05) and higher (p < 0.05) effluent losses. Longer silo opening times resulted in more alkaline pH (p < 0.05) and higher (p < 0.05) effluent losses. The use of inoculant in silage production and longer silo opening times provided higher (p < 0.05) content of ash, crude protein, and fats, and lower (p < 0.05) content of dry matter and fiber (neutral and acid detergent). However, there was no interaction between the factors evaluated in this study. It was concluded that the inoculant may be used in the production of elephant grass silages, wet brewery waste, and buriti meal, providing a more acidic pH, higher effluent losses, lower contents of dry matter and fiber, and higher nutritional content. As the opening time was extended up to 28 days, there was more alkaline pH, higher effluent losses, lower dry matter and fiber content, and higher nutritional content.

Untreated or ammoniated cotton gin trash in the ensiling of elephant grass reduces silage quality

“…The CGT increased DM of silages (p < 0.05, Table 2) when compared to the EG silage due to the higher DM content of CGT (Table 1). Moisture-absorbing additives are an important tool to minimize the effects of low DM of grasses at the time of ensiling (Dias et al, 2019;Silva et al, 2020). However, the observed values were still below 20% reported by McDonald et al, (1991) as the minimum acceptable for the preservation of grasses in the form of silage, except in the CGT10U8 treatment.…”

“…Elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) has high herbage mass during the rainy season (Silva et al, 2020). Its vigorous growth culminates in rapid drop in nutritional value.…”

“…To overcome the intrinsic limitations of elephant grass for silage production, several studies have tested the addition of by-products and agricultural wastes (e.g., straw, husks) in its ensiling with promising results (Viana et al, 2013;Guerra et al, 2016;Silva et al, 2020). In addition to favoring the fermentation process, this technique allows the use of products with a more restricted potential for animal feed that usually ends up being discarded.…”

Intake, digestibility, milk production, ingestive behavior and gas emissions of Saanen goats fed pornunça silage with levels of condensed tannin extracted from Schinopsis brasiliensis

“…Dairy goats production represent one of the most important activities of the productive sector in the Brazilian semiarid region, being one of the main sources to ensure the food supply of rural families, generating jobs and income for the region. However, local climatic conditions promote an oscillation in the supply and nutritional value of forage, leading to a productive de cit in herds due to feed scarcity (Ramos et al, 2020;Silva et al, 2020).…”

Adding corn meal into mixed elephant grass–butterfly pea legume silages improves nutritive value and dry matter recovery

“…Despite elephant grass potential for silage production, it has limitations such as low dry matter (DM) and water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) (Kung Junior et al ., 2018), and a higher buffer capacity (BC) (Bezerra et al ., 2019; Silva et al ., 2020). These characteristics can hinder the rapid decline in pH and compromise the fermentation process (Ferreira et al ., 2013), which may favour the predominance of undesirable bacteria ( Clostridium sp.)…”