Sudangrass Silage Research Articles

Effects of Microbial Inoculation and Storage Length on Fermentation Profile and Nutrient Composition of Whole-Plant Sorghum Silage of Different Varieties.

This study aimed to assess the effects of a heterofermentative microbial inoculant and storage length on fermentation profile, aerobic stability, and nutrient composition in whole-plant sorghum silage (WPSS) from different varieties. Experiment 1, a completely randomized design with a 2 × 3 factorial treatment arrangement, evaluated microbial inoculation [CON (50 mL distilled water) or LBLD (Lactobacillus plantarum DSM 21762, L. buchneri DSM 12856, and L. diolivorans DSM 32074; 300,000 CFU/g of fresh forage)] and storage length (14, 28, or 56 d) in forage WPSS. The LBLD silage had lower pH compared to CON, and greater concentrations of succinic acid, ethanol, 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PD), 1-propanol, 2,3-butanediol and total acids. After 56 d, lactic acid concentration was greater for CON, while acetic acid and aerobic stability were greater in LBLD silage. Experiment 2, a completely randomized design with a 2 × 3 factorial treatment arrangement, evaluated effects of microbial inoculation (same as experiment 1) and storage length (14, 28, or 56 d) in WPSS of three varieties [forage sorghum (Mojo Seed, OPAL, Hereford, TX), sorghum-sudangrass (Dyna-gro Seed, Fullgraze II, Loveland, CO, United States), or sweet sorghum (MAFES Foundation Seed Stocks, Dale, MS State, MS)]. The LBLD forage sorghum had greater acetic acid and 1,2-PD concentrations at 56 d and 28 d, respectively, but lower concentrations of propionic acid at 56 d and butyric acid at 14 and 28 d. Additionally, WSC concentration was greater for CON than LBLD at 28 d. Furthermore, CON sweet sorghum had greater lactic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid concentrations. However, greater acetic acid and 1,2-PD were observed for LBLD sweet sorghum. The CON sweet sorghum had greater concentration of WSC and yeast counts. The CON sorghum sudangrass had greater lactic and butyric acid concentrations than LBLD at 14 d, but lower acetic acid and 1,2-PD concentrations at 56 d. Yeast counts were greater for CON than LBLD sorghum sudangrass silage. Overall, results indicate inoculation of WPSS with Lactobacillus plantarum DSM 21762, L. buchneri DSM 12856, and L. diolivorans DSM 32074 improves heterofermentative co-fermentation allowing the accumulation of acetic acid concentration and increasing antifungal capacities and aerobic stability of WPSS.

Abundance and diversity of epiphytic microbiota on forage crops and their fermentation characteristic during the ensiling of sterile sudan grass.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of exogenous epiphytic microbiota inoculation on the fermentation quality and microbial community of sudan grass silage. Gamma irradiated sudan grass was ensiled with distilled water (STR), epiphytic microbiota of sudan grass (SUDm), forage sorghum (FSm), napier grass (NAPm) and whole crop corn (WCCm). The FSm inoculated silage have significantly lower lactic acid (LA) concentration and higher pH during early ensiling, while LA concentration gradually and significantly increased with the progression of ensiling and have lower pH in relation to other treatments for terminal silage. Inoculation of NAPm resulted in lower LA and higher acetic acid (AA) concentrations, higher pH, ammonia-N and dry matter losses for terminal silage, followed by SUDm silage. Inoculations of WCCm significantly increased LA production and pH decline during early ensiling and have higher LA and pH then NAPm and SUDm silages during final ensiling. The early fermentation of SUDm silage was dominated by genus of Pediococcus. The genera of Lactobacillus were predominant in WCCm and NAPm silages during 3days of ensiling, while Weissella dominated initial microbial community of FS silage. The terminal silage of NAPm was dominated by Enterobacter and Rosenbergiella, while Enterobacter and Lactobacillus dominated terminal SUDm silage. The final silage of FSm was dominated by Lactobacillus, Weissella and Pediococcus, while Lactobacillus and Acetobacter dominated terminal WCCm silages. The results demonstrated that among the four forages the epiphytic microbiota from forage sorghum positively influenced the microbial community and fermentability of sudan grass silage.

Effects of wilting and additives on the ensiling quality and in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics of sudangrass silage.

ObjectiveThis study was conducted to investigate the effects of molasses and Lactobacillus plantarum on the ensiling quality and in vitro rumen fermentation of sudangrass silage prepared with or without wilting.MethodsThe ensiling experiment, measured with 3 replicates, was carried out according to a 2×4 (wilted stages×additives) factorial treatment structure. Dry matter of the fresh (210 g/kg fresh matter) or wilted (305 g/kg fresh matter) sudangrass were ensiled (packed into 5.0-L plastic jars) without additive (control) or with molasses (M), Lactobacillus plantarum (LP), or molasses + Lactobacillus plantarum (M+LP). After 60 days of ensiling, the silages were analyzed for the chemical, fermentation, and in vitro characteristics.ResultsAfter 60 days of ensiling, the fermentation parameters were affected by wilted, the additives and the interactions of wilted with the additives (p<0.05). The M+LP treatment at wilted had higher lactic acid levels and V-score (p<0.05) but lower pH values and butyric acid concentrations than the other treatments. In comparison with sudangrass before ensiling, after ensiling had lower dry matter and higher non-fibrous carbohydrate. The in vitro gas production, in vitro dry matter digestibility, in vitro crude protein digestibility, and in vitro acid fiber detergent digestibility changed under the effects of the additives. Significant interactions were observed between wilted and the additives in terms of in vitro gas production at 48 h, asymptotic gas production, gas production rate, half time, and the average gas production rate. The total volatile fatty acid levels in the additive treatments were higher than those in the control.ConclusionWilting and supplementation with molasses and Lactobacillus plantarum had the ability to improve the ensiling quality and in vitro nutrient digestibility of sudangrass silage. The M+LP treatment at wilted exhibited the strongest positive effects on silage quality and in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics.

Water deficit and nitrogen affects yield and feed value of sorghum sudangrass silage

This study was carried out to determine potential effects of water deficit and nitrogen treatments on yield components of sorghum sudangrass and nutritional composition, fermentation, organic matter digestibility, gas-methane production of sorghum sudangrass silage. Plants were grown under combinations of three different irrigation levels (I100: 100, I75: 75 and I50: 50% of depleted water from field capacity) and three different nitrogen doses (N1: 100, N2: 200, N3: 300 kg ha−1). Experiments were conducted in randomized blocks - split plots design for two years in 2013 and 2014. Harvested plants were ensilaged, silage samples were opened after 60 days and relevant analyses were performed on silage samples. Irrigation treatments increased green herbage yield, yield components, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), dry matter and crude ash and decreased crude protein, gas production and organic matter digestibility. Increasing nitrogen doses increased panicle and leaf ratio, crude protein ratio and green herbage yield and decreased dry matter and pH levels. The greatest ADF, NDF, metabolic energy, gas production and organic matter digestibility values were obtained from 200 kg ha -1 treatment. Current findings revealed that increasing yield but decreasing quality values were observed with increasing irrigation levels. Appropriate nitrogen doses had positive impacts on green herbage yield and feed quality. There were not significant differences between N3 × I100 and N2 × I75 treatments. Therefore, a slight water deficit (I75) and normal nitrogen supply (200 kg ha−1) is recommended for sorghum sudangrass culture without any significant losses in yield and quality parameters.

1438 Evaluation of brown midrib sudangrass silage in the diets of lactating dairy cows

Forages that use less water but are high in digestibility are sought as alternatives to traditional forages such as corn silage. Brown midrib (BMR) sudangrass is a possible alternative that can provide high-quality forage as a replacement for corn silage. The objective of this study was to evaluate the replacement of corn silage and alfalfa silage with increasing concentrations of sudangrass silage in the diets of lactating dairy cows. Forty-eight Holstein cows in mid lactation were assigned to treatments in a randomized complete block design. Cows were fed a common covariate diet for 2 wk followed by 8 wk of experimental diets. Diets were formulated to contain 40% corn silage, 20% alfalfa silage, and 40% concentrate on a DM basis. Sudangrass silage was included in experimental diets at 0, 10, 20, and 30% of the diet DM. Proportionally, sudangrass silage replaced 2 parts corn silage and 1 part alfalfa silage. All other ingredients (high-moisture corn, canola meal, roasted soybeans, soyhulls, and minerals and vitamins) were included equally for all diets. Data were analyzed using MIXED procedures of SAS. Polynomial orthogonal contrasts were used to determine the effect of increasing BMR sudangrass silage in the diets of lactating dairy cows. Dry matter intake linearly decreased as sudangrass silage replaced corn silage and alfalfa silage (P < 0.01). Similarly, milk production decreased from 43.1 kg/d for cows fed 0% sudangrass silage to 39.2 kg/d for cows fed 30% sudangrass silage. Milk fat and lactose percentage were not affected by changes in forages; however, milk protein percentage was quadratically affected (P = 0.02). Yields of milk fat, protein, and lactose linearly decreased (P < 0.05) with increasing sudangrass silage. Similarly, energy-corrected milk (ECM) linearly decreased with increasing concentrations of sudangrass silage. Feed efficiency, defined as ECM/DMI, was not affected by changes in forage because milk production changes and DMI changes were the same. Although it was expected that increased digestibility of the BMR sudangrass silage would benefit the dairy cow, it is possible that the increased fiber in the sudangrass diets limited intake, resulting in a linear decrease in milk production.

Prediction of Chemical Composition and Fermentation Parameters in Forage Sorghum and Sudangrass Silage using Near Infrared Spectroscopy

This study was conducted to assess the potential of using NIRS to accurately determine the chemical composition and fermentation parameters in fresh coarse sorghum and sudangrass silage. Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) has been increasingly used as a rapid and accurate method to analyze the quality of cereals and dried animal forage. However, silage analysis by NIRS has a limitation in analyzing dried and ground samples in farm-scale applications because the fermentative products are lost during the drying process. Fresh coarse silage samples were scanned at 1 nm intervals over the wavelength range of 680~2500 nm, and the optical data were obtained as log 1/Reflectance (log 1/R). The spectral data were regressed, using partial least squares (PLS) multivariate analysis in conjunction with first and second order derivatization, with a scatter correction procedure (standard normal variate and detrend (SNV&D)) to reduce the effect of extraneous noise. The optimum calibrations were selected on the basis of minimizing the standard error of cross validation (SECV). The results of this study showed that NIRS predicted the chemical constituents with a high degree of accuracy (i.e. the correlation coefficient of cross validation (R²cv) ranged from 0.86~0.96), except for crude ash which had an R² cv of 0.68. Comparison of the mathematical treatments for raw spectra showed that the second-order derivatization procedure produced the best result for all the treatments, except for neutral detergent fiber (NDF). The best mathematical treatment for moisture, acid detergent fiber (ADF), crude protein (CP) and pH was 2,16,16 respectively while the best mathematical treatment for crude ash, lactic acid and total acid was 2,8,8 respectively. The calibrations of fermentation products produced poorer calibrations (RPD < 2.5) with acetic and butyric acid. The pH, lactic acid and total acids were predicted with considerable accuracy at R²cv 0.72~0.77. This study indicated that NIRS calibrations based on fresh coarse sorghum and sudangrass silage spectra have the capability of assessing the forage quality control

한국의 가축 생산성 향상을 위한 유기조사료 생산체계에 관한 연구

Organic forage production system is one of the most important aspects in organic livestock production. Animals in the organic farming system are also essential for manure to be used for organic forage production. Both organic forage and animals are essential to maintain the cycle of organic agriculture system. In this paper we introduce the organic forage production system in Korea. Summer and winter crops are getting popular in Korea because of their high forage yield and cultivation in double cropping systems. Common cropping system for forage production in Korea is the double cropping system with legume and grass mixture. Forage sorghum and sudangrass are the most popular ones of annual summer forage corps because of their high production with low cost in the double cropping systems. In the mixture of forage crops, inter cropping is more suitable in the corn and sorghum cropping system because of high lodging resistance and forage yield, and low weed population. Forage sorghum and sudangrass are difficult to preserve as direct-cut silage due to the fact that its high moisture content causes excessive fermentation during ensiling. Corn grain addition to sorghum silage could be recommended as the most effective treatment for increasing quality and reducing production cost. It is recommended that corn grain could be added up to 10% of total amount of silage. And agriculture by-products also can be added at the time of ensiling to minimize losses of effluent and have the additional advantage of increasing quality. Agriculture by-products as silage supplements increased DM content and quality, and decreased the production cost of sorghum silage. Field pre-wilting treatment of forage crops also increased DM content and quality of the silage. Wilting sorghum×sudangrass hybrid before ensiling was the effective method for reducing effluent and increasing pH and forage quality more than direct cut silage. Optimum prewilting period of sudangrass silage was 1 or 2 days. In organic forage, the most important factor is the enhancement of organic forage sufficiency in relation to the environmental-friendly and organic livestock. Consequently, there are many possibilities for animal production and organic forage production in Korea. No forages no cattle concept should be emphasized in organic farming system.

Impact of co-digestion on existing salt and nutrient mass balances for a full-scale dairy energy project

Anaerobic digestion of manure and other agricultural waste streams with subsequent energy production can result in more sustainable dairy operations; however, importation of digester feedstocks onto dairy farms alters previously established carbon, nutrient, and salinity mass balances. Salt and nutrient mass balance must be maintained to avoid groundwater contamination and salination. To better understand salt and nutrient contributions of imported methane-producing substrates, a mass balance for a full-scale dairy biomass energy project was developed for solids, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, chloride, and potassium. Digester feedstocks, consisting of thickened manure flush-water slurry, screened manure solids, sudan grass silage, and feed-waste, were tracked separately in the mass balance. The error in mass balance closure for most elements was less than 5%. Manure contributed 69.2% of influent dry matter while contributing 77.7% of nitrogen, 90.9% of sulfur, and 73.4% of phosphorus. Sudan grass silage contributed high quantities of chloride and potassium, 33.3% and 43.4%, respectively, relative to the dry matter contribution of 22.3%. Five potential off-site co-digestates (egg waste, grape pomace, milk waste, pasta waste, whey wastewater) were evaluated for anaerobic digestion based on salt and nutrient content in addition to bio-methane potential. Egg waste and wine grape pomace appeared the most promising co-digestates due to their high methane potentials relative to bulk volume. Increasing power production from the current rate of 369 kW to the design value of 710 kW would require co-digestion with either 26800 L d−1 egg waste or 60900 kg d−1 grape pomace. However, importation of egg waste would more than double nitrogen loading, resulting in an increase of 172% above the baseline while co-digestion with grape pomace would increase potassium by 279%. Careful selection of imported co-digestates and management of digester effluent is required to manage salt and nutrient mass loadings and reduce groundwater impacts.

Effect of Sesame Meal Supplemented in Sudangrass Silage on Fermentation Quality and Feed Intake in Goats

Hirano, Y., Ito, Y., Inagaki, N., Yamasaki, K., Yokota, H. and Kita, K. 2005. Effect of sesame meal supplemented in Sudangrass silage on fermentation quality and feed intake in goats. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 28: 85–88. To increase the nutritive value and reduce the moisture content of Sudangrass silage, sesame meal was mixed with Sudangrass at 5, 10, 20 and 40% (w/w) in laboratory glass silos. This silage was compared with plain Sudan grass silage. The acetic acid content increased when sesame meal was added at the level of more than 20% and the content of propionic acid, butyric acid and volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) decreased with increasing sesame meal supplementation. Feed intake of silage mixed with sesame meal and/or beet pulp was higher than that of non-added Sudangrass silage in goats. As the reduction of butyric acid and VBN is an index of good quality silage, it is suggested that sesame meal can be used as an additive to make good silage with improvement of palatability in ruminants.

Effects of tea leaf waste of green tea, oolong tea, and black tea addition on sudangrass silage quality and in vitro gas production

AbstractThis study evaluated the fermentation characteristics and in vitro gas production of sudangrass (Sorghum sudanese) silage with tea leaf waste of green tea, oolong tea and black tea added. All types of tea leaf waste contain large amounts of nitrogen (N) and tannins, and a small amount of low‐water‐soluble carbohydrates. Sudangrass was preserved without (control) and with green tea waste (GTW), oolong tea waste (OTW) or black tea waste (BTW) at rates of 50, 100 and 200 g kg−1 fresh matter in laboratory silos. The pH and butyric acid levels were significantly lower in GTW at all rates and in OTW at the 200 g kg−1 rate, whereas those levels were high in the control and BTW‐treated silage. Lactic acid level was appreciably higher in GTW‐ and OTW‐treated silage than the control and BTW‐treated silage. The addition of all types of tea waste increased the total N and tannins of the silage, whereas the acid detergent insoluble N was increased in the OTW‐ and BTW‐treated silage. GTW treatment increased gas production within a 96‐h period compared with the control, whereas OTW and BTW additions at 200 g kg−1 rates caused lower gas production. It is concluded that the fermentation characteristics and feed value of the silage incorporating with tea leaf wastes are different for these types of tea leaf. Among the three kinds of tea waste, GTW is the most valuable material as a silage additive. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry

Effects of Feeding Unlike Forages, Singly and in Combination, on Voluntary Dry Matter Consumption and Performance of Lactating Cows

Three groups of six lactating dairy cows each were fed: a) grass-legume silage, ad libitum; b) succulent pasture, ad libitum; and c) silage, ad libitum plus 1 hr of pasture daily. Milk production, weight gains, and forage consumption of those fed the combination of forages were significantly greater than expected. Most of the beneficial interaction was attributed to an increase in forage consumption. Digestibility was not affected by the combination. However, some increase in efficiency of digested nutrients could not be excluded.In another study, 24 lactating cows were fed: Coastal Bermudagrass silage; Tift Sudangrass silage; or a combination of these silages in a double-reversal experiment. Cows fed Sudangrass silage produced more milk than those given the Bermudagrass. Dry matter consumption was significantly greater for the combination group. However, differences in milk production and weight gains were not significant. Thus, the nonadditive effects of the substances which cause low dry matter consumption of these two silages was not large under conditions of the experiment.

Sudan Grass Silage at Two Stages of Maturity versus Rye Grass and Crimson Clover with Two Filling Procedures

Summary Tift Sudan grass silages, harvested at the preboot and the boot stages of maturity, were compared with rye grass and crimson clover silages which had been ensiled by a fast-filling procedure with packing and a slow-filling procedure without packing. Filling a silo slowly increased fermentation losses as measured by chemical changes and a balance study. Cows fed silage from the slowly filled silo consumed less dry matter, produced less milk, and gained less weight. When Tift Sudan grass was harvested at the preboot stage, milk production was higher, yields per acre lower, and seepage losses greater than when it was cut eight days later in the boot stage. Milk production and weight gains were higher for cows fed rye grass and crimson clover than for those fed Sudan grass silages. Fermentation losses were higher and seepage losses lower for the Sudan grass silages.