Application of different proportions of sweet sorghum silage as a substitute for corn silage in dairy cows

Xiaokang Lv; Liang Chen; Chuanshe Zhou; Guijie Zhang; Jingjing Xie; Jinhe Kang; Zhiliang Tan; Shaoxun Tang; Zhiwei Kong; Zixin Liu; Zhiyan Du

doi:10.1002/fsn3.3347

Application of different proportions of sweet sorghum silage as a substitute for corn silage in dairy cows

Food Sci Nutr. 2023 May 15;11(6):3575-3587. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.3347. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Xiaokang Lv^{1

2}, Liang Chen³, Chuanshe Zhou^{1

2

4}, Guijie Zhang⁴, Jingjing Xie¹, Jinhe Kang¹, Zhiliang Tan¹, Shaoxun Tang¹, Zhiwei Kong^{1

2}, Zixin Liu^{1

2}, Zhiyan Du⁵

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory for Agro-Ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Physiology and Metabolic Process Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changsha Hunan 410125 China.
² College of Advanced Agricultural University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China.
³ Research Institute of Rural Revitalization Strategy Shenyang Agricultural University Shenyang Liaoning 110866 China.
⁴ School of Agriculture Ningxia University Yinchuan Ningxia 750021 China.
⁵ Hunan Longping Hi-Tech Cultivated and Restoration Technology Co., Ltd Changsha Hunan 410125 China.

Abstract

This experiment explored the effects of different proportions of sweet sorghum silage as a substitute for corn silage on dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield, milk quality, apparent digestibility, rumen fermentation parameters, serum amino acid profile, and rumen microbial composition of dairy cows. A total of 32 mid-lactation Holstein dairy cows with similar body weights and parities were randomly divided into four treatments: 100% corn silage +0% sorghum silage (CON), 75% corn silage +25% sorghum silage (CS1), 50% corn silage +50% sorghum silage (CS2), and 25% corn silage +75% sorghum silage (CS3). The milk yield was increased (linear, p = .048) as the proportion of sweet sorghum increased. Linear (p = .003) and quadratic (p = .046) increased effects were observed in milk fat as corn silage was replaced with sorghum silage. Compared with the CON diet group, the CS2 and CS3 diet groups had lower dry matter (DM) (linear, p < .001), ether extract (EE) (linear, p < .001), and gross energy (GE) (linear, p = .001) digestibility of the dairy cows. The ruminal fluid aspartate (Asp) level decreased (linear, p = .003) as the proportion of sweet sorghum increased. Linear (p < .05) and quadratic (p < .05) increased effects were observed for the contents of threonine (Thr), glycine (Gly), valine (Val), leucine (Leu), tyrosine (Tyr), and histidine (His) in rumen fluid with the replacement of corn silage with sorghum silage. Cows fed the CS3 diet had greater Faecalibacterium, Bacteroides, and Prevotella ruminicola content/copy number than those fed the CON diet (p < .05). In conclusion, feeding sorghum silage as a replacement for corn silage could increase the milk yield and fat, promote the growth of rumen microbes, and provide more rumen fluid amino acids for the body and microbial utilization. We believe that sorghum silage is feasible for dairy cows, and it is reasonable to replace corn silage with 75% sorghum silage.

Keywords: corn silage; dairy cows; sweet sorghum silage.