Corn silage aerobic stability, dry matter loss, and microbiology are affected by the use of organic acids, depending on the plant maturity stage
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0359.2025v46n5p1629Keywords:
Aerobic stability, Ammonium hydroxide, Corn silage, Dry matter loss, Propionic acid, Silage additive.Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the fermentation profile, nutritional quality, microbial count, fermentation losses, and aerobic stability of corn silages at different stages of maturity that were treated with organic acids (OA; Mold-Zap, Alltech, Nicholasville, KY). The OA (8 g kg-1 DM) was applied to corn silage harvested at the early, medium, or late stage, before compaction in the bunk. Lactic acid decreased with silage maturity (P<0.01). Compared to the control, the OA-treated silage had higher lactic acid content in the early-maturity silage (90.0 vs. 51.7 g kg-1 DM), but lower lactic acid in [1]the late-maturity silage (33.7 vs. 51.6 g kg-1 DM). Both early- and late-maturity silages with OA had lower yeast counts and DM losses (P<0.01). Silage heating upon air exposure was also lower in late-maturity silage with OA (148 vs. 112 hours of aerobic stability). The use of OA increased the soluble fraction (a), the potentially degradable fraction (b), and the effective degradability (ED) (P<0.01), and reduced the undegradable fraction (U) in intermediate- (268 vs. 287 g kg-1 DM) and late-maturity (245 vs. 322 g kg-1 DM) silages. In general, organic acids effectively mitigated aerobic deterioration and promoted DM digestibility in corn silage with a DM content above 350 g kg-1.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Thomer Durman, Antonio Vinicius Iank Bueno, Clóves Cabreira Jobim, André Martins de Souza; Egon Henrique Horst; Paulo Victor Pinheiro Cesar, Livia Alessi Ienke, Nicolli Soethe Mokochinski, João Antonio de Arruda Giacomet, Mikael Neumann
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