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This study determined the effectiveness of two Lactobacillus buchneri strains (commercial and indigenous) and sodium benzoate ( SB) in improving the aerobic stability of corn silage under laboratory and field conditions. Two experiments were carried out to test the following treatments: untreated forage, commercial L. buchneri ( CLB), indigenous L. buchneri ( ILB) and SB at a 2 g kg−1 concentration. Both inoculants were applied at a rate of 1 × 106 colony forming units of bacteria per gram of forage. In experiment 1, five replicates of each treatment were ensiled in 15-L laboratory silos. The nutritional, fermentation and microbiological characteristics and aerobic stability of the silage were determined. In experiment 2, the top of a bunker silo was divided into four parts (blocks) along its length before it was sealed, and the treatments were randomly applied. Three bags were buried in each experimental unit (two at the top and one at the core) to determine the loss of dry matter ( DM) and the silage characteristics. In experiment 1, ILB exhibited a lower lactic acid concentration and higher 1,2-propanediol and acetic acid levels, which provided intermediate aerobic stability (67 h). In both experiments, treatment SB exhibited higher residual water-soluble carbohydrate levels and longer aerobic stability relative to the other treatments. In experiment 2, there were lower DM losses and higher digestibility coefficients when SB was applied, similar to that found at the core. Overall, SB was the most effective additive for improving fermentation, preserving nutrients and reducing the aerobic deterioration of corn silage at the top of a bunker silo in a hot-climate environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the effect on dairy cows of the partial replacement of whole plant corn silage (WPCS) with corn ear fibrous coproduct (CEFC) in diets with concentrate coproducts from citrus and corn on dry matter intake (DMI), lactation performance, digestibility, and chewing behavior. Holstein dairy cows (n = 20) in 5, 4 × 4 Latin squares (21-d periods) were fed a combination of strategies for feeding fibrous coproducts in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of the following treatments: (1) forage feeds: the partial replacement of WPCS (CS) with CEFC (CO), and (2) concentrate feeds: the partial replacement of wet corn gluten feed (GF) with a blend of pelleted citrus and corn distillers dried grains (CD) to have isonitrogenous diets. The concentrations of physically effective neutral detergent fiber (NDF; pe NDF >8 ) were (% of dry matter): 21.8% for CS, 19.2% for CO, 20.7% for GF, and 20.2% for CD. Cows fed diet CS-CD had the highest yield of energy-corrected milk (30.0 kg/d) relative to the other diets (28.4 kg/d). Milk fat concentration was reduced on CO relative to CS. Cows fed the CO diets had higher DMI (21.2 vs. 20.2 kg/d) and digestible organic matter intake and tended to have a lower ratio of energy-corrected milk to DMI than cows fed CS. Diets CO reduced the daily intake of pe NDF >8 and the intake as percent of body weight of pe NDF >8 , forage NDF, and total NDF relative to CS. Cows fed CO had greater meal frequency and lower daily meal time, meal duration, meal size, and duration of the largest meal than cows fed CS. The CO diet reduced rumination and total chewing in minutes per day and minutes per kilogram of DMI. When expressed per unit of pe NDF >8 intake, rumination and total chewing were not affected by forage source. The total-tract starch digestibility coefficient was lower for cows fed CO than CS, but the intake of digestible starch was higher on CO than CS. Cows fed GF had reduced milk yield (29.6 vs. 30.8 kg/d), tended to have reduced DMI (20.4 vs. 21.0 kg/d), and had reduced digestible organic matter intake than cows fed CD. Feed efficiency was not affected by source of concentrate. The type of concentrate did not affect the intake of forage NDF and pe NDF >8 , but cows fed GF had higher intake of total NDF as percent of body weight than cows fed CD. The GF increased meal frequency and reduced meal size and largest meal duration and size. Cows fed GF had higher rumination and total chewing than cows fed CD (min/d, min/kg of DMI, and min/kg pe NDF >8 ). Starch digestibility was higher and the intake of digestible starch tended to be higher on cows fed GF than CD. Plasma urea-N was higher, milk urea-N tended to be higher, and N utilization efficiency tended to be lower on cows fed GF than CD. Ruminal microbial yield was not affected by any treatment. All strategies evaluated were nutritionally viable and CEFC was a feasible partial replacement for WPCS., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)