Impact of Packing Density on the Bacterial Community, Fermentation, and In Vitro Digestibility of Whole-Crop Barley Silage

Lin Sun, Na Na, Xiaomei Li, Ziqin Li, Chao Wang, Xiaoguang Wu, Yanzi Xiao, Guomei Yin, Sibo Liu, Zhiping Liu, Yanlin Xue and Fuyu Yang
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Lin Sun: College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Na Na: Inner Mongolia Engineering Research Center of Development and Utilization of Microbial Resources in Silage, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
Xiaomei Li: College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Ziqin Li: Inner Mongolia Engineering Research Center of Development and Utilization of Microbial Resources in Silage, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
Chao Wang: Inner Mongolia Engineering Research Center of Development and Utilization of Microbial Resources in Silage, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
Xiaoguang Wu: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Land Surveying and Planning Institute, Hohhot 010055, China
Yanzi Xiao: College of Agriculture and Forestry, Hulunbuir University, Hulunbuir 021000, China
Guomei Yin: Inner Mongolia Engineering Research Center of Development and Utilization of Microbial Resources in Silage, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
Sibo Liu: Inner Mongolia Engineering Research Center of Development and Utilization of Microbial Resources in Silage, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
Zhiping Liu: Inner Mongolia Engineering Research Center of Development and Utilization of Microbial Resources in Silage, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
Yanlin Xue: Inner Mongolia Engineering Research Center of Development and Utilization of Microbial Resources in Silage, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
Fuyu Yang: College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: Packing density has a significant influence on the outcome of ensiling forage. In this study, we aim to investigate the effect of packing density on the ensiling properties, microbiome, and in vitro digestibility of barley silages. Barley was ensiled in polyethylene drum silos (30 L) with respective densities of 600, 650, 700, and 750 kg/m 3 fresh matter (FM), and stored for 60 days. The bacterial communities, fermentation quality, and in vitro digestibility were analyzed. Fresh barley had a low count of lactic acid bacteria (LAB, 10 4 cfu/g of FM), and Lactobacillus was nearly undetectable (<1%). Increasing the packing density decreased the pH and the content of ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N), ethanol, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) of barley silage ( p < 0.05), and increased in vitro digestibility of dry matter, NDF, ADF, and DM recovery ( p < 0.05). A higher packing density decreased the abundances of Enterobacter (from 47.4% to 35.4%) and Clostridium (from 13.5% to 3.8%), and increased the abundance of Lactobacillus (from 1.8% to 17.0%). Thus, packing density positively correlated with Lactobacillus ( p < 0.05) but negatively correlated with Enterobacter ( p < 0.05). The pH and the content of ethanol were positively correlated with Enterobacter ( p < 0.05) but negatively correlated with Lactobacillus ( p < 0.05). In conclusion, the density of 750 kg/m 3 FM resulted in the highest silage quality of the densities tested.

Keywords: packing density; barley; silage; bacterial community; fermentation quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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