Silage Management for Cattle: Optimizing Cattle Health and Performance

Dear Colleagues,

Silage plays a crucial role in ruminant production systems, serving as a key component for maintaining stable feed supply, stabilizing costs, and supporting animal health and productivity throughout the year. Importantly, silage management is directly linked to cattle health and performance, as it determines the nutritional value, safety, and consistency of the diet. High-quality silage improves feed efficiency, supports optimal rumen function, enhances immune responses, and promotes growth, reproduction, and milk yield. In contrast, poorly managed silage may increase the risk of metabolic disorders, impair ruminal fermentation, compromise immune function, and predispose cattle to health challenges that reduce productivity and profitability.

The management of silage, encompassing crop selection, harvest timing, ensiling techniques, storage conditions, and feed-out practices, has a direct impact on nutrient preservation, fermentation quality, feed intake, and, ultimately, cattle performance. Poorly managed silage can increase nutrient losses, compromise aerobic stability, and promote undesirable microbial activity, resulting in reduced animal health, productivity, and farm profitability.

Advances in the use of silage additives, microbial inoculants, essential oils, and precision management tools have created new opportunities to optimize the ensiling process, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance ruminal fermentation efficiency. These innovations, combined with improved knowledge of silage–animal interactions, are essential for maximizing both performance and welfare outcomes in cattle herds. Furthermore, a better understanding of the interactions between silage quality, animal nutrition, and health outcomes is crucial to improve feed utilization and contribute to sustainable livestock production.

We invite researchers to submit original research articles, reviews, short communications, and case studies addressing a wide spectrum of topics, including but not limited to the following:

• Harvest strategies and crop maturity effects on silage quality and their consequences for cattle performance and health;
• Microbial ecology of silage and the use of inoculants or additives in relation to animal nutrition and safety;
• Nutritional evaluation of silages and impacts on growth, reproduction, milk yield, and overall cattle performance;
• Health and welfare outcomes directly associated with silage feeding and quality;
• Aerobic stability, spoilage prevention, and feed-out management to safeguard feed intake, rumen function, and animal productivity;
• Environmental impacts and mitigation strategies in silage production while maintaining animal efficiency;
• Novel approaches and technologies in silage monitoring and management with emphasis on links to cattle health, welfare, and performance.

This Special Issue is aimed at providing updated insights into silage management strategies that support both the efficiency and sustainability of cattle production systems, offering valuable perspectives for researchers, nutritionists, and practitioners engaged in animal agriculture.

Dr. Tiago Antonio Del Valle
Prof. Dr. Julio Viégas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

• silage
• ruminant production
• feed additives
• ruminal fermentation
• animal health
• cattle