Alfalfa silage

AIMS: Lactate and butyrate are important indicators of silage quality. However, the microorganisms and mechanisms responsible for lactate and butyrate production in silage are not well documented. METHODS AND RESULTS: whole-metagenomic sequencing was used to analyze metabolic pathways, microbiota composition, functional genes, and their contributions to lactate and butyrate production in alfalfa silage with (SA) and without (CK) sucrose addition. Carbon metabolism was the most abundant metabolic pathway...

Dry matter intake (DMI) is a primary determinant of milk production in grazing dairy cows and an ability to measure the DMI of individual cows would allow herd managers to formulate supplementary rations that consider the amount of nutrients ingested from grass. The 2 related aims of this experiment were to define the mean number of swallowed boli and mass of the swallowed boli in Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle offered a variety of forages commonly fed in the dairy industry of southeastern Australia, and to evaluate 2 indirect methods for counting the number of swallows...

This study aimed to quantify the effects of dietary inclusion of tannin-rich pomegranate peel (PP) on intake, methane and nitrogen (N) losses, and metabolic and health indicators in dairy cows. Four multiparous, late-lactating Brown Swiss dairy cows (796 kg body weight; 29 kg/d of energy corrected milk yield) were randomly allocated to 3 treatments in a randomized cyclic change-over design with 3 periods, each comprising 14 d of adaptation, 7 d of milk, urine, and feces collection, and 2 d of methane measurements...

Saccharina latissima is a brown seaweed that could be used in ruminant feeding, but its fast deteriorating and seasonal growth nature limit their utilisation in the practice. Ensiling could be used as a preservation method, but information of its effects on the nutritional value of the seaweed is limited. This study evaluated the in vitro ruminal fermentation of different S. latissima silages using ruminal inoculum either from goats fed a mixed diet (60:40 oat hay:concentrate) or from sheep fed a high-forage diet (90:10 alfalfa hay:concentrate) to simulate different small ruminant production systems...

Recently, the use of cocktail forage mixes in dairy cattle rations has become more common because the mixtures are low-cost, fit well in rotation after a cereal grain forage, and can have similar yield and energy value compared with alfalfa silage. This experiment evaluated the effects of a chemical additive and packing density on the fermentation profile and nutrient composition of cocktail mix silage. The cocktail forage mix (brown-midrib sorghum-sudangrass, Italian ryegrass, red clover, berseem clover, and hairy vetch) was harvested, ensiled in laboratory silos (3...

Starch and NDF are usually assumed to contain the same concentration of gross energy (GE), but NDF is more variable in chemical composition and varies more in the extent of digestion. The variable chemical composition of NDF may have direct implications on dairy nutrition models that predict dietary GE and use this estimate for also predicting digestible energy. For example, when NDF is enriched in lignin and protein, the concentration of GE would increase, whereas NDF enriched in ash would have the opposite effect...

Two in vivo experiments studied the effects of different alfalfa hay (AH) to alfalfa silage (AS) ratios including 100:0 (AH100), 50:50 (AH50:AS50) and 0:100 (AS100) in total mixed rations (TMR) of dromedary camels. In experiment (Exp.) 1, a total of 18 multiparous Baluchi dairy camel [100 ± 5 days in milk (DIM); 3.65 ± 0.539 kg milk yield] were randomly allocated to one of the three groups ( n  = 6) for 42 d of experimental period. Dry matter intake (DMI) and milk yield were recorded daily, and blood samples were collected on days 0, 21 and 42...

Inclusion of plants rich in secondary metabolites into grass ensiling offers multiple benefits for ruminants, from improving productive performance to health-promoting effects as well as helping to reduce environment pollution. The present meta-analysis summarizes the dietary inclusion levels of red clover silage (RCS) and sainfoin silages (SS) as well as the types of silages fed to dairy cows and small ruminants. A total of 37 in vivo studies (26 articles in dairy cows and 11 articles in small ruminants) were aggregated after being strictly selected using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines...

The study aimed to evaluate Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 (2006 and 2019) to predict enteric CH4 emissions from lactating cows fed Mediterranean diets. The effects of the CH4 conversion factor (Ym ; CH4 energy loss as a percentage of gross energy intake) and digestible energy (DE) of the diet were evaluated as model predictors. A data set was created using individual observations derived from 3 in vivo studies on lactating dairy cows housed in respiration chambers and fed diets typical of the Mediterranean region based on silages and hays...

Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) is the most commonly reported metric for fiber in dairy cattle nutrition. An empirical method, NDF is defined by the procedure used to measure it. The current definitive method for NDF treated with amylase (aNDF) is AOAC Official Method 2002.04 performed on dried samples ground through the 1-mm screen of a cutting mill with refluxing and then filtration through Gooch crucibles without (AOAC-; reference method) or with (AOAC+) a glass fiber filter filtration aid. Other methods in use include grinding materials through the 1-mm screen of an abrasion mill, using filtration through a Buchner funnel with a glass fiber filter (Buch), and use of the ANKOM system (ANKOM Technology, Macedon, NY) that simultaneously extracts and filters samples through filter bags with larger (F57) or smaller (F58) particle size retentions...

Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), as a new woody forage with high-protein characteristic, is being widely used in ruminant feeding. However, little is known about the comprehensive microbiota picture of whole ruminal niches (liquid, solid, and epithelium) under paper mulberry diet. To gain a better understanding of feeding paper mulberry on the rumen microbiota, the effects of fresh paper mulberry, paper mulberry silage, or a conventional high-protein alfalfa silage on rumen fermentation products and microbiota in rumen niches of Hu lambs were studied...

Maize is recognized as the queen of cereals, with an ability to adapt to diverse agroecologies (from 58o N to 55o S latitude) and the highest genetic yield potential among cereals. Under contemporary conditions of global climate change, C4 maize crops offer resilience and sustainability to ensure food, nutritional security, and farmer livelihood. In the northwestern plains of India, maize is an important alternative to paddy for crop diversification in the wake of depleting water resources, reduced farm diversity, nutrient mining, and environmental pollution due to paddy straw burning...

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a kind of roughage frequently utilized as an animal feed but challenging to be ensiled due to its low water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC), high water content, and elevated buffering capacity, thus requiring the application of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to improve its fermentation. This study employed high-throughput metagenomic sequence technology to reveal the effects of homofermentative LAB, Lactobacillus plantarum (Lp), or Pediococcus pentosaceus (Pp), and heterofermentative LAB, L...

BACKGROUND: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) has been widely used in preparing silage. However, forage legumes are prone to contamination by spoilage bacteria during fermentation. Nisin has broad-spectrum antibacterial properties and has been applied as an inhibitor of rumen methane emissions. However, little research has been carried out on the application of nisin in silage. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impacts of different nisin concentrations on the bacterial community and fermentation dynamics, in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics, microbiota, and methane emissions of alfalfa silage...

The objectives of this experiment were to investigate voluntary intake of stoned olive cake (SOC) in sheep and goats. The feeding experiment was carried out with a total of 10 animals consisting of five Karya yearlings and five Saanen goats (28.0 ± 2.0 and 37.0 ± 2.1 kg initial body weight (BW), respectively). Three feeds were offered as free-choice: alfalfa hay-maize silage mix (40:60 in dry matter basis), pelleted SOC, and ensiled SOC. Goats had higher (P < 0...

Alfalfa silage fermentation quality, metabolome, bacterial interactions, and successions as well as their predicted metabolic pathways were explored under different dry matter contents (DM) and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculations. Silages were prepared from alfalfa with DM contents of 304 (LDM) and 433 (HDM) g/kg fresh weight and inoculated with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (L. plantarum, LP), Pediococcus pentosaceus (P. pentosaceus, PP), or sterile water (control). The silages were stored at a simulated hot climate condition (35°C) and sampled at 0, 7, 14, 30, and 60 days of fermentation...

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Alfalfa is harvested two or three times a year in central and western Inner Mongolia, China. However, the variations in bacterial communities as affected by wilting and ensiling, and the ensiling characteristics of alfalfa among the different cuttings, are not fully understood. To enable a more complete evaluation, alfalfa was harvested three times a year. At each time of cutting, alfalfa was harvested at early bloom, wilted for 6 h, and then ensiled in polyethylene bags for 60 days. The bacterial communities and nutritional components of fresh alfalfa(F), wilted alfalfa(W) and ensiled alfalfa(S), and the fermentation quality and functional profile of bacterial communities of the three cuttings alfalfa silage, were then analyzed...

Fostering crop-livestock integration via crop-forage rotation provides opportunities to cope with land degradation, feed deficit, and agropastoral sustainability. Farmers' preferences for forage options are influenced by economic benefit, environmental preference, and productive performance. However, there is little information available on evaluating multiple trade-offs of forage systems for the design of crop-forage rotations. Here, we performed a comprehensive evaluation to compare the economic, environmental, and productive indicators of five typical forage systems in terms of habitat conditions, soil ecosystem services, economic profit, and forage yield and nutritive value on the southern Tibetan Plateau...

BACKGROUND: Ferulic acid esterase (FAE)-secreting Lactiplantibacillus plantarum A1 (Lp A1) is a promising silage inoculant due to the FAE's ability to alter the plant cell wall structure during ensiling, an action that is expected to improve forage digestibility. However, little is known regarding the impacts of Lp A1 on rumen microbiota. Our research assessed the influences of Lp A1 in comparison to a widely adopted commercial inoculant Lp MTD/1 on alfalfa's ensilage, in vitro rumen incubation and microbiota...