Meta-analysis of effects of inoculation with Lactobacillus buchneri, with or without other bacteria, on silage fermentation, aerobic stability, and performance of dairy cows

Arriola, K. G. and Oliveira, A. S. and Jiang, Y. and Kim, D. and Silva, H. M. and Kim, S. C. and Amaro, F. X. and Ogunade, I. M. and Sultana, H. and Pech Cervantes, A. A. and Ferraretto, L. F. and Vyas, D. and Adesogan, A. T.

J Dairy Sci (2021) :

DOI: 10.3168/jds.2020-19647

Abstract

A meta-analysis of 158 peer-reviewed manuscripts was conducted to examine effects of inoculation with Lactobacillus buchneri (LB)-based inoculants (LBB) that did or did not include homolactic or obligate heterolactic bacteria on silage fermentation and aerobic stability. A complementary meta-analysis of 12 manuscripts examined LBB inoculation effects on dairy cow performance. Raw mean differences between inoculant and control treatment means weighted by inverse variance were compared with a hierarchical effects model that included robust variance estimation. Meta-regression and subgrouping analysis were used to identify effects of covariates including forage type, application rate (≤10(4), 10(5), 10(6), or ≥ 10(7) cfu/g as fed), bacteria type (LB vs. LB plus other bacteria), enzyme inclusion, ensiling duration, and silo type (laboratory or farm scale). Inoculation with LBB increased acetate (62%), 1, 2 propanediol (364%) and propionate (30%) concentration and aerobic stability (73.8%) and reduced lactate concentration (7.2%), yeast counts (7-fold) and mold counts (3-fold). Feeding inoculated silage did not affect milk yield, dry matter intake, and feed efficiency in lactating dairy cows. However, forage type, inoculant composition, and dose effects on silage quality measures were evident. Inoculation with LBB increased aerobic stability of all silages except tropical grasses. Adding obligate homolactic or facultative heterolactic bacteria to LB prevented the small increase in DM losses caused by LB alone. The 10(5) and 10(6) cfu/g rates were most effective at minimizing DM losses while aerobic stability was only increased with 10(5) ,10(6), and ≥ 10(7) cfu/g rates. Inoculation with LBB increased acetate concentration, reduced yeast counts and improved aerobic stability but did not improve dairy cow performance.

Citation

Arriola, K. G., Oliveira, A. S., Jiang, Y., Kim, D., Silva, H. M., Kim, S. C., Amaro, F. X., Ogunade, I. M., Sultana, H., Pech Cervantes, A. A., Ferraretto, L. F., Vyas, D., & Adesogan, A. T. (2021). Meta-analysis of effects of inoculation with Lactobacillus buchneri, with or without other bacteria, on silage fermentation, aerobic stability, and performance of dairy cows. J Dairy Sci. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2020-19647 corn silage, heterolactic bacteria, Lactobacillus buchneri, Lactobacillus hilgardii

Keywords

• corn silage
• heterolactic bacteria
• Lactobacillus buchneri
• Lactobacillus hilgardii