Efficacy of adding chemical and microbial additives to silage on beef cattle performance: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

The effects of different additives on farm‐scale silage quality and beef cattle performance are inconsistent. This study aimed to carry out a systematic review and meta‐analysis to evaluate the efficacy of chemical and microbial additives to silage on beef cattle performance. Systematic searches were performed using databases and scientific journals, and 42 articles were selected. Data for all variables were grouped into subgroups according to the additive type. For dry matter intake and average daily gain, the data were also grouped by forage type due to greater comparison numbers. The treatment mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (p < 0.05) were analysed using a random‐effects model. The use of homo‐ and heterofermentative microbial inoculant mixtures and chemical additives (Ch) increased the average daily gain of beef cattle fed maize/sorghum silage. Homofermentative microbial inoculant (Ho), Ch, and a mixture of microbial inoculant and chemical additives also increased the average daily gain of beef cattle fed temperate grasses. Only Ch increased dry matter intake. Ch increased feed efficiency, and Ch and Ho increased carcass weight. The evaluated additives improved the silage fermentation process mainly via pH and ammonia nitrogen reduction. Overall, this meta‐analysis demonstrated that silage additives improved the ensiling process and beef cattle performance, with better results with Ch use. Due to the aerobic stability and microbiological profile analyses being carried out more in laboratory‐scale silos, more studies are needed to determine these silage parameters after opening the silo at the farm scale.

Topics from the 2023 EGF Symposium: The future role of ley‐farming in cropping systems, and other recent grassland events

“…Effects of chop length and maturity stage of forage on the quality of the resulting silage (Randby et al, 2024) builds upon earlier work by de Assis Pires et al (2023). Ways to improve the nutritive value of ensiled forages by adding additives (Gruber et al, 2024;Nikodinoska et al, 2024) also relates to earlier published work on this topic (e. g., Bernardi et al, 2019;Gonda et al, 2023;Huson et al, 2023;Macêdo et al, 2023;Menezes et al, 2023).…”