Fluctuant storage temperature increased the heterogeneous distributions of pH and fermentation products in large round bale silage

Abstract

In practical of silage production, variations in the fermentation parameters of silage might be attributable to changes in weather data, especially for ambient temperature. The objective of this study was to investigate how the changed temperature of outside weather condition affects distributions of pH and fermentation products in large round bale silage. The bale silages (1.22 m × 1.25 m ø; density, about 168.9 kg dry matter [DM]/m3) were produced by BR6090 Combi from New Holland Agriculture, wrapped with six layers of stretch film, stored at ambient temperature (2–20°C) and constant temperature (10°C; 15°C; 25°C) for 3, 9, 15, 45 and 90 days. Compared with other silages, silage stored at 25°C had higher (p < 0.05) lactic acid content, lower (p < 0.05) pH, butyric acid content and ammonia-nitrogen (N) ratio of total N. Fluctuant storage temperature limited lactic acid fermentation process with delayed pH decline and continuous butyric production and crude protein (CP) degradation. The differences of pH, lactic acid, propionic acid and ammonia-N were considerably less evident in the centre of silages stored at different temperatures, and they increased towards the boundaries. The data shows that fluctuant storage temperature had undesirable effect on the fermentation quality of silage, especially for the external part of silo; relatively high and stable storage temperature for initial stage of ensiling process was necessary, but did not promote a positive response to the homogeneous distributions of pH and fermentation products in large round bale silage.