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The combined use of a microbial additive and a chemical additive in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) silages would reduce fermentation losses, favoring aerobic stability by modulating a favorable microbiome to control those losses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the action of Lactobacillus buchneri and sodium benzoate on the fermentative profile, bacterial taxonomic diversity and aerobic stability of sorghum silages at different fermentation times. A completely randomized experimental design was adopted in a 4 × 4 factorial scheme, in order to evaluate four additives in sorghum silage (Control treatment, L. buchneri, sodium benzoate and L. buchneri combined with sodium benzoate) and four opening times (30, 60, 90 and 120 d fermentation), in five replicates. Silages inoculated with sodium benzoate showed higher pH values (3.70) at 90 d of fermentation, not differing (P > 0.05) from control (CTR) silage and the other silages. The largest lactic acid bacteria populations were observed at 120 d of fermentation in the silages inoculated with L. buchneri (9.06) followed by the silages inoculated with sodium benzoate and with the combination L. buchneri + sodium benzoate (8.37 and 8.85 log CFU, respectively) at 90 d of fermentation. For gas losses, in which silage treated with sodium benzoate showed lower values, with an average of 0.72% DM. The silages presenting a high DMR standard, ranging from 94.6% to 98.0%, with the exception of the CTR silages. Silages treated with L. buchneri showed higher values (98%) for the occurrence of the genus Lactobacillus in both fermentation times. The combined action of L. buchneri and sodium benzoate kept the Lactobacillus population stable at 30 and 120 d of fermentation. The combination of L. buchneri and sodium benzoate improved the fermentative profile and chemical composition of sorghum silages, reducing losses and increasing aerobic stability after 120 d of fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainability of animal production on pasture is based on improving the management of forage species used, which ensures increase in animal productivity, pasture perenniality and cost reduction. The objective was to characterize productive, structural, physiological and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) responses of Brachiaria decumbens Stapf 'Basilisk' over the flexibilization of the grazing management adopted. Four defoliation combinations were evaluated, which consisted of the arrangement of two (85% and 95%) light interceptions (LI) and two (1.3 and 1.8) residual leaf area indexes (RLAI), as parameters of entry and exit of the animals from the pasture, respectively. Higher total forage biomass was observed (TFB, kg DM ha-1) 18.82%, when the canopy was managed at the lowest defoliation frequencies (95% LI), but with a higher morphological composition of the stem component and dead material. The 95% LI produced an extra layer of leaves than the canopy managed at 85% LI. The physiological variables were affected by the higher frequency of defoliation (85% LI), with lower photosynthetic rates. NDVI was higher in the canopy managed in the pre-grazing condition at 95% LI (0.88) and residual condition at 1.8 RLAI (0.49), when compared to 85% LI (0.86) and 1.3 RLAI (0.44). For greater production per animal, managing at 85% LI x 1.8 RLAI with pre-grazing and residual NDVI of 0.85 and 0.49, respectively, is the most suitable while for greater animal production per area, managing at 95% LI x 1.3 RLAI with pre-grazing and residual NDVI of 0.88 and 0.44, respectively, becomes more efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]