Microorganism development during feed-out of high-moisture corn and corn-ears silages

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the microorganism development in both high-moisture corn silage and corn-ears silage after the silos have been opened. The treatments consisted of two kinds of silages (high-moisture corn silage and corn-ears silage) and four periods of sampling after the opening of the silos (0, 2, 4 and 6 days), using a factorial arrangement with a completely randomized design and three replications. Both silage treatments showed little growth of clostridia development, but it was possible to observe a dominance of heterofermentative lactic-acid bacteria. It was also observed that the corn-ears silage allowed the development of molds, enterobacteriaceae, and yeast, after the opening of the silos, when compared to the high-moisture corn silage. No difference in organic acids was observed between the two silages. A large aerobic development of microorganisms was found in both high-moisture corn silage and corn-ears silage characterizing their susceptibility to superficial deterioration. However, the high density achieved during ensiling avoided losses in the deepest layers of the silos.