The effects of Lactobacillus hilgardii 4785 and Lactobacillus buchneri 40788 on the microbiome, fermentation, and aerobic stability of corn silage ensiled for various times

We evaluated the ability of an inoculant containing a combination of Lactobacillus hilgardii and Lactobacillus buchneri to modify the microbiome and improve the aerobic stability of whole-plant corn silage after various lengths of ensiling. Chopped whole-plant corn at about 33% dry matter (DM) was uninoculated (CTR) or inoculated with L. hilgardii CNCM I-4785 and L. buchneri NCIMB 40788 at 200,000 cfu/g of fresh forage weight each (combined application rate of 400,000 cfu of lactic acid bacteria/g of fresh forage weight; LHLB), L. buchneri NCIMB 40788 at 400,000 cfu/g of fresh forage weight and Pediococcus pentosaceus NCIMB 12455 at 100,000 cfu/g of fresh forage weight, used as a positive control (LB500), L. hilgardii CNCM I-4785 at the application rate used in the LHLB formulation of 200,000 cfu/g of fresh forage weight (LH), or L. buchneri NCIMB 40788 at the application rate used in the LHLB formulation of 200,000 cfu/g of fresh forage weight (LB). Silos were opened after 34 and 99 d of ensiling and analyzed for nutrient composition, fermentation profile, microbiome, and aerobic stability. After 34 d of ensiling, the inoculated silages had greater numbers of culturable lactic acid bacteria, a bacterial community less rich and diverse, greater relative abundance of Lactobacillus, lower relative abundance of Klebsiella, and a greater concentration of propionic acid than uninoculated silages. Inoculation decreased the ratio of lactic acid to acetic acid, except for LB alone. Treatment LHLB resulted in silage with a greater concentration of 1,2-propanediol than LB500 and was the only treatment to have a lower relative abundance of Saccharomycetes compared with uninoculated silage. Treatments LHLB and LB500 improved the aerobic stability compared with CTR, but the individual LH and LB treatments applied at a low dose did not. Whereas LB500 was stable 34 h longer than CTR, LHLB was stable 91 h longer. After 99 d of ensiling, all inoculated silages had markedly greater aerobic stability than uninoculated silage and were stable for more than 360 h. The inoculant containing a combination of L. hilgardii and L. buchneri markedly improved the aerobic stability of corn silage after a relatively short period of ensiling, and such improvements were greater than the ones obtained from inoculation with the combination of L. buchneri and P. pentosaceus. Inoculating with the combination of L. hilgardii and L. buchneri may be helpful to producers that must feed silage shortly after ensiling.