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This experiment was conducted to examine the effects of substituting mixed silage (fresh ramie: dry rice straw = 80: 20; kg: kg) composed of fresh forage ramie, also known as ‘China grass’, Boehmeria nivea L. Gaud (a nettle native to Asia) and rice straw for corn silage and alfalfa hay on the production performance, milk components, rumen fermentation parameters, and nutrient digestion in dairy cows. Thirty multiparous Chinese Holstein cows (629 ± 59.2 kg of BW, 25 ± 4.7 kg of milk yield, and 100 ± 18 DIM; mean ± SD) were randomly divided into three groups. The experimental treatments containing three diets, each consisting of differing proportions of mixed silage (0%, 10%, and 20%, designated as CON, MS1, and MS2, respectively) as a substitution for corn silage and alfalfa hay. There were no effects of mixed silage diets on dry matter intake (DMI), 3.5% fat-corrected milk (FCM) yield, milk protein percentage, milk somatic cell count, and milk urea nitrogen (MUN), but linearly increased total solids (p = .03) and milk fat percentage (p = .001) in cows fed the MS1 and MS2 diets. Feeding mixed silage diets linearly reduced milk yield (p = .01) and milk lactose percentage (p = .01), and had linearly increased rumen pH values (p = .01). There were no observable differences in other rumen fermentation parameters between the mixed silage and control diets. Mixed silage diets exhibited increased DM digestibility (linearly, p = .04; quadratically, p = .017) and linearly decreased crude protein digestibility (p = .05), but we observed no differences in the apparent total-tract digestibility of EE, NDF, and ADF between the control and mixed silage diets. In conclusion, using ramie and rice straw mixed silage proved beneficial by increasing milk fat percentage, milk solids, and DM digestibility, ramie could be used as a potential forage resource in dairy cow diets.Highlights We tested the effects of substituting alfalfa hay and corn silage with mixed silage composed of fresh forage ramie and rice straw on dairy cows Mixed silage diets had no effect on dry matter intake (DMI) Mixed silage diets reduced milk yield and milk lactose percentage

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the contribution of urea on the nutritional quality and microbial community of ensiled alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Alfalfa silage was control group without urea (AL), supplementation with 0.5 % urea (AU1), or supplementation with 1 % urea (AU2). The silage tanks were opened and sampled after silage at 0, 15, 30, and 60 d. Results showed that AU2 had higher pH, ratio of NH3-N/TN and CP content than those in AL and AU1 while AU1 had higher ADF than that in AL and AU2 after 15 d silage. Richness and diversity indices of microbial communities in silage were no significant differences among AL, AU1 and AU2 group. Proteobacteria (58.23%) and Firmicutes (40.95%) were the predominant phylum in three groups during the silage process. The percent of community abundances on genera level of Enterobacteriaceae (37.61%) and Klebsiella (41.78%) in AL were a little higher than those in AU1 (30.39%, 25.02%) and AU2 (33.48%, 26.92%). These results showed that silage with urea alone could not improve the quality of alfalfa.

Alfalfa silage is one of the main roughages in the production of dairy cow, which can provide nutrition with high quality to improve milk quality and production. Sucrose additions have been widely used to improve the silage quality. In this study, the effects of sucrose on the fermentation quality and bacterial communities of alfalfa silage were investigated here using 0, 0.5, and 1% sucrose ensiling treatments for 15, 30, and 60 days. The ensiling time significantly decreased the crude fiber content and increased the ammonia nitrogen, acetic acid content, and the relative abundance of Enterococcus in the silages. The 1% sucrose-treated silage at 60 days had the lowest neutral detergent fiber acid, acid detergent fiber, and crude fiber content and the highest relative feed value. Moreover, sucrose-treated silage contained less acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid, and had a lower pH than the controls for each duration. Enterobacteriaceae, Klebsiella, and Enterococcus were the dominant genera in all groups, and the relative abundance of Enterococcus and Lactobacillus was higher in the 1% sucrose-treated group than in the control. These results suggested that sucrose supplementation could improve alfalfa silage quality and increase its beneficial bacterial content.

Five white-rot fungi Pleurotus ostreatus, Lentinus edodes, Hericium erinaceus, Pleurotus eryngii and Flammulina filiformis were studied (solid-state incubation and in vitro gas production) to determine lignin degradation and optimal duration of fermentation of corn straw. All fungi significantly decreased lignin, with optimal reductions after 28 d. Although cellulose also decreased, L. edodes and P. eryngii minimized these losses. In intro dry matter digestibility, total volatile fatty acid concentration and total gas production of fermented corn straw decreased (P 0.001) as fermentation was prolonged, with improved rumen fermentability for all fungal treatments except F. filiformis. Total gas production in L. edodes did not decrease but peaked on day 28, whereas F. filiformis reduced methane emission. In conclusion, fermentation of corn straw with P. eryngii or L. edodes for 28 d degraded lignin and improved nutritional value as ruminant feed.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the forage type and chop length of ramie (Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaud.) silage on rumen fermentation and ruminal microbiota in black goats. Sixteen Liuyang black goats (22.35 &plusmn, 2.16 kg) were fed with the roughage of corn silage or ramie silage at chop lengths of 1, 2, or 3 cm. The Chao 1 index and the observed number of microbial species differed significantly between the corn and ramie silage groups (p &lt, 0.05), however, Firmicutes (relative proportion: 34.99&ndash, 56.68%), Bacteroidetes (27.41&ndash, 47.73%), and Proteobacteria (1.44&ndash, 3.92%) were the predominant phyla in both groups. The relative abundance of Verrucomicrobia (0.32&ndash, 0.82%) was lowest for the 2 and 3 cm chop lengths (p &lt, 0.05) and was negatively correlated with rumen pH and propionic acid concentration (p &lt, 0.05), but positively correlated with the ratio of acetic acid to propionic acid (p &lt, 0.05). The ramie silage fermentation quality was highest for the 1 cm chop length, suggesting that moderate chopping produces optimal quality silage.

A series of batch cultures were conducted to investigate the effects of oleic acid (OA) on in vitro ruminal dry matter degradability (IVDMD), gas production, methane (CH4) and hydrogen (H2) production, and proportion of fatty acids. Rumen fluid was collected from fistulated goats, diluted with incubation buffer, and then incubated with 500 mg Leymus chinensis meal supplemented with different amounts of OA (0, 20, 40, and 60 mg for the CON, OA20, OA40 and OA60 groups, respectively). Incubation was carried out anaerobically at 39°C for 48 h, and the samples were taken at 12, 24 and 48 h and subjected to laboratory analysis. Supplementation of OA decreased IVDMD, the cumulative gas production, theoretical maximum of gas production and CH4 production, but increased H2 production. However, no effect was observed on any parameters of rumen fermentation (pH, ammonia, production of acetate, propionate and butyrate and total volatile fatty acid production). The concentrations of some beneficial fatty acids, such as cis monounsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) were higher (P < 0.05) from OA groups than those from the control group at 12 h incubation. In summary, these results suggest that the OA supplementation in diet can reduce methane production and increase the amount of some beneficial fatty acids in vitro.