The effects of three different silage additives on the extent of silage fermentation and the performance of dairy cows

Abstract

A 3‐year study was carried out to assess the effects of different extents of silage fermentation on the performance of dairy cows in early lactation. Three levels of silage fermentation were obtained by using a bacterial inoculant (B), Foraform at approximately 4 L t−1(F) and Maxgrass at approximately 6Lt−1 (M) as silage additives. In all 3 years treatment B produced approximately twice as much fermentation products in the silage as treatment M, and treatment F was intermediate. Treatment M successfully preserved water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) in the silage only with the high DM crop in experiment 2 (272 g kg−1). As means over the 3 years, treatment M with restricted fermentation increased silage DM intake by 1.1 kg, milk fat content by 1.9 g kg−1 and milk protein content by 0.6 g kg−1 compared with the extensively fermented silage (B). In experiment 2, when WSC were successfully preserved with treatment M, milk protein content increased by 1.2 g kg−1 compared with treatment B. It is concluded from these trials and literature that the extent of silage fermentation affects DM intake and content of milk solids, but has only marginal effects on milk yield.