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The effects of using a bacterial inoculant with unwilted and wilted grass silages on performance and nutrient utilisation by dairy cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

T. Yan ,
D. C. Patterson ,
F. J. Gordon  and
M. G Porter
T. Yan
Affiliation:
The Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR
D. C. Patterson
Affiliation:
The Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR
F. J. Gordon
Affiliation:
The Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR
M. G Porter
Affiliation:
The Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR
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Extract

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of bacterial inoculants as silage additives. A number of recent studies have shown improvements in silage fermentation, feed intake and milk production following the use of inoculant additives at ensiling. Even when compared with well preserved control silages, studies at this Institute have shown that treatment with an inoculant of Lactobacillus plantarum at ensiling has produced positive responses in both silage intake and milk yields (Gordon, 1989; Mayne, 1990). This leads to the hypothesis that, unlike the traditional acid additives, application of an inoculant at ensiling to grass which has been wilted to a high dry matter (DM) concentration may still produce improvements in milk production in comparison with untreated silages. The objective of the present study therefore was to examine if the response to the use of a bacterial inoculant at ensiling was influenced by the wilting of grass.

Type
Milk Production II
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1995 , March 1995 , pp. 28
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1995

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References

Gordon, F. J. 1989. An evaluation through lactating cattle of a bacterial inoculant as an additive for grass silage.Grass and Forage Science 44: 169–179.10.1111/j.1365-2494.1989.tb01924.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayne, C. S. 1990. An evaluation of an inoculant of Lactobacillus plantarumas an additive for grass silage for dairy cattle. Animal Production 51: 1–13.Google Scholar