Impact of mixed forage silage with BRS Capiaçu grass, ground corn, and varying forage palm levels on aerobic stability, fermentation profile, chemical composition, and digestibility

Monção, Flávio Pinto; Rocha Júnior, Vicente Ribeiro; Leal, Dijair Barbosa; Rigueira, João Paulo Sampaio; Caldeira, Luciana Albuquerque; Silva, Ranney Késia Oliveira de Jesus; Antunes, Anselmo Batista; Carvalho, Cinara da Cunha Siqueira; Santos, Alexandre Soares dos; D'Angelo, Marcos Flávio Silveira Vasconcelos

Impact of mixed forage silage with BRS Capiaçu grass, ground corn, and varying forage palm levels on aerobic stability, fermentation profile, chemical composition, and digestibility

Monção, Flávio PintoRocha Júnior, Vicente RibeiroLeal, Dijair BarbosaRigueira, João Paulo SampaioCaldeira, Luciana AlbuquerqueSilva, Ranney Késia Oliveira de JesusAntunes, Anselmo BatistaCarvalho, Cinara da Cunha SiqueiraSantos, Alexandre Soares dosD'Angelo, Marcos Flávio Silveira Vasconcelos

This study aimed to evaluate different proportions of cactus pear in silage with BRS Capiaçu grass, along with a 10% inclusion of ground corn grain, focusing on aerobic stability, fermentative profile, chemical composition, and digestibility. The treatments included cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) at increasing levels of 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60% of the natural matter in the silage with BRS Capiaçu grass, plus 10% ground corn grain. Additionally, a control silage composed of BRS Capiaçu grass without ground corn was used. A completely randomized design was employed with six treatments and eight replications. The BRS Capiaçu grass was harvested after 100 days of regrowth. For ensiling, experimental PVC silos of known weights and of 50 cm long and 10 cm in diameter were used. The breakdown of aerobic stability of the silage without cactus pear (BRS Capiaçu grass with 10% ground corn) occurred 144 h after opening the silo. The inclusion of cactus pear in the silage with BRS Capiaçu grass and 10% ground corn grain resulted in a linear increase in pH value. Among the silages with cactus pear inclusion, there was no significant difference in gas losses (P = 0.46) and dry matter (DM) recovery (P = 0.43). There was no significant difference between the silages in terms of acetic acid content (P = 0.91). The content of DM and total digestible nutrients was lower in the control silage compared with the other silages. For each percentage unit of cactus pear inclusion, there was a reduction of 0.1195% in DM content. Additionally, for every 1% inclusion of cactus pear in silage with BRS Capiaçu grass, there was an increase of 0.2007 percentage units in DM digestibility. The optimal proportion of cactus pear in silage with BRS Capiaçu grass and 10% ground corn is up to 60% of the natural matter.(AU)