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Agriculture
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Silage Preparation, Processing and Efficient Utilization
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Silage Preparation, Processing and Efficient Utilization

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Farm Animal Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2024 | Viewed by 2142

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Siran Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Science, Nanjing 210014, China
Interests: silage; ensiling; function potential; microbial community; metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Silage is a high-quality animal feed obtained through desirable bacteria fermentation under anaerobic conditions. It is rich in nutrition, with good palatability, high digestibility, and long-term storage. Silage production, otherwise known as ensiling, is a very complex process of microbial activity and biochemical changes, and it is one of the most important ways to preserve crop straws or forage biomasses. Animals that feed on silage can effectively improve the availability of animal protein and reduce methane emissions. There are a lot of silage resources available on the Earth. However, the utilization rate is low, leading to a massive waste of resources and severe environmental pollution. On the other hand, with the rapid development of animal production, there is a considerable shortage of animal roughage yearly. With this in mind, it is essential to investigate silage preparation, processing and efficient utilization.

This Special Issue focuses on silage preparation, processing and efficient utilization in improving silage quality and animal performance. Research articles will cover a broad range of silage from forages and other roughage resources. All types of articles, such as original research, opinions, and reviews, are welcome.

Dr. Siran Wang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • silage
  • ensiling
  • lactic acid bacteria
  • bacterial community
  • fermentation
  • forage

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1593 KiB  
Article
Isolation of Bacillus velezensis from Silage and Its Effect on Aerobic Stability and In Vitro Methane Production of Whole-Plant Corn Silage
by Chen Zhang, Zimo Zhang, Mengfan Zhu, Yongliang Wang, Tangtang Zhou, Fachun Wan, Yunhua Zhang and Lijuan Chen
Agriculture 2024, 14(6), 830; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14060830 - 25 May 2024
Viewed by 310
Abstract
Once a silo has been opened, the silage inside will face challenges such as aerobic deterioration, rot, and contamination. Biocontrol bacteria, as a kind of biological antiseptic, are highly effective and natural and are gaining increasing attention. This study aimed to screen a [...] Read more.
Once a silo has been opened, the silage inside will face challenges such as aerobic deterioration, rot, and contamination. Biocontrol bacteria, as a kind of biological antiseptic, are highly effective and natural and are gaining increasing attention. This study aimed to screen a strain with anti-microbial activity against silage spoilage microorganisms and examine its effects on the fermentation quality, aerobic stability, in vitro digestion, and methane production of silage. Lactic acid bacteria, pathogenic and rot-causing microorganisms, were used as indicators to screen the strains for putrefactive silage. The bacteriostatic spectrum, growth performance, and tolerance to the silage environment of the strain were tested. A strain named D-2 was screened from rotten whole-plant corn silage and identified as Bacillus velezensis through physiological and biochemical tests as well as 16S rDNA sequencing. This study found that D-2 exhibits antibacterial effects on several microorganisms, including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteritidis, Aspergillus niger, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Fusarium oxysporum, and Fusarium graminearum. However, it has no adverse effect on Lactobacillus reuteri, Enterococcus faecium, or Lactobacillus casei. D-2 can attain a stable stage within 10 h and withstand temperatures of up to 70 °C. Moreover, this study found that D-2 had a high survival rate of over 97% after 48 h in a lactic acid environment with pH 4. Freshly chopped whole-plant corn was inoculated without or with D-2 and ensiled for 60 days. The results show that D-2 inoculations increase the content of water-soluble carbohydrates, acetic acid, and propionic acid in the silage and decrease the number of yeasts and molds, the NH4+-N/TN ratio, and the pH. We also found that fermenting whole-plant corn with D-2 significantly increased the in vitro digestibility and the propionic acid content, while also significantly inhibiting methane production. After being exposed to air for 10 days, D-2 can still effectively reduce the total number of yeasts and molds, prevent the decrease in lactic acid bacteria, and inhibit the increase in the pH and NH4+-N/TN ratio of silage products. Overall, D-2 is resistant to pathogenic and rot-causing microorganisms, allowing for easy adaptation to silage production conditions. D-2 can effectively improve aerobic stability and reduce losses in the nutritional value of silage, indicating possible applications for the prevention of silage rot and methane production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Silage Preparation, Processing and Efficient Utilization)
11 pages, 2252 KiB  
Article
Screening Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains for Their Tolerance to Increased Osmotic Pressure and Their Suitability to Ensile High Dry Matter Forages
by Siriwan D. Martens, Wolfgang Wagner, Mariana Schneider, Klaus Hünting, Susanne Ohl and Christof Löffler
Agriculture 2024, 14(6), 825; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14060825 - 25 May 2024
Viewed by 263
Abstract
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) should not only survive, but also perform under increased osmotic pressure in the process of ensiling, which results from the best practice of wilting forage. Simple laboratory protocols are needed to select suitable LAB strains as inoculants for high [...] Read more.
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) should not only survive, but also perform under increased osmotic pressure in the process of ensiling, which results from the best practice of wilting forage. Simple laboratory protocols are needed to select suitable LAB strains as inoculants for high dry matter (DM) conditions. The aim of this study was to simulate conditions of high osmolality without inducing salt stress and to select a suitable indicator of LAB performance. For that, an MRS medium was enriched with increasing concentrations of glucose and fructose plus a maximum of 28 g KCl/L until achieving an osmolality of 2.4 osmol/kg. Both, growth in the inoculated medium and pH decline, were then compared to the LAB performance in the basic medium. The latter was clearly delayed in the new medium. Finally, the method was validated by comparing the pH of small-scale grass silages of 30–35 and 45–49% target DM after 3–5 days of ensiling to the pH values of the microbiological growth medium. The pH levels of treatments with the homofermentative LAB were clearly attributable to the dry matter or the sugar concentration, respectively. The developed liquid growth medium sufficiently approximates high DM conditions to select for the osmotolerant homofermentative LAB. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Silage Preparation, Processing and Efficient Utilization)
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22 pages, 1046 KiB  
Article
Assessing Fermentation Quality, Aerobic Stability, In Vitro Digestibility, and Rumen Degradation Characteristics of Silages Mixed with Sweet Sorghum and Aerial Parts of Licorice
by Feng Chen, Jiao Wang, Sujiang Zhang, Abdul Shakoor Chaudhry and Hassan Khanaki
Agriculture 2024, 14(2), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14020212 - 28 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1004
Abstract
(1) Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the fermentation quality, chemical composition, aerobic stability, in vitro digestibility, and rumen degradation characteristics of silage mixtures with different ratios of sweet sorghum (SS) and aerial parts of licorice (LC). (2) Methods: Five mixtures were produced [...] Read more.
(1) Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the fermentation quality, chemical composition, aerobic stability, in vitro digestibility, and rumen degradation characteristics of silage mixtures with different ratios of sweet sorghum (SS) and aerial parts of licorice (LC). (2) Methods: Five mixtures were produced on a dry matter (DM) basis: (i) 0%SS + 100%LC (0%SS); (ii) 25%SS + 75%LC (25%SS); (iii) 50%SS + 50%LC (50%SS); (iv) 75%SS + 25%LC (75%SS); and (v) 100%SS + 0%LC (100%SS). First, the chemical composition of the silages was measured before and after fermentation. Next, the aerobic stability, dynamic microbial colonization and dynamic volatile fatty acids of the mixed silage after fermentation were determined for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 days. Finally, the parameters related to gas production and the characteristics of the gas production were determined. At the same time, the rate of degradation of the chemical composition of the mixed silage in the rumen was studied. (3) Results: (a) As the proportion of SS increased, pH, ammonia, butyric acid, acetate, and aerobic stability showed a decreasing trend, but lactic acid content gradually increased. (b) The content of the fermentation and gas production parameters were significantly higher in 100%SS and 50%SS than others (p < 0.05). (c) The rate of degradation of DE, ME, Neg, DM, CP, ADF, NDF, and ADL of 50%SS in the rumen of sheep was significantly higher than others (p < 0.05). (4) Conclusions: In conclusion, ensiling SS and LC mixtures can improve silage quality, especially if the SS and LC are ensiled together at a ratio of 50:50. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Silage Preparation, Processing and Efficient Utilization)
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