TY - JOUR

T1 - Silage quality of six sorghum cultivars for sheep

AU - Oliveira, Brena Santos

AU - Pereira, Luiz Gustavo Ribeiro

AU - Azevêdo, José Augusto Gomes

AU - Rodrigues, José Avelino Santos

AU - Velasco, Frederico Osório

AU - Neves, André Luiz Alves

AU - Maurício, Rogério Martins

AU - Verneque, Rui da Silva

AU - dos Santos, Rafael Dantas

N1 - Funding Information: To Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Fundo Setorial do Agronegócio (CTAgro), to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes) / Programa Professor Visitante do Exterior (PVE), to Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), to Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (Fapemig), and to Banco do Nordeste, for support. Publisher Copyright: © Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira, 2018.

PY - 2018/2/1

Y1 - 2018/2/1

N2 - The objective of this work was to evaluate the silage quality, fermentation profile, intake, and digestibility of six sorghum cultivars for sheep feeding. 'SF 15', 'IPA 2502', 'BRS 655', 'BR 601', 'BRS 506', and 'Sudão' were cultivated in randomized complete block designs with five replicates, harvested, and ensiled when plants reached the soft-dough grain stage. Silage quality was determined in laboratory silos. Intake and apparent digestibility were determined during 22 days, using 24 Santa Inês lambs (35.5±2.21 kg) randomly distributed in the treatments. Silage from 'IPA 2502' had the lowest contents of dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber; the highest nonfibrous carbohydrate and total digestible nutrient contents; and the greatest dry matter degradability. Silages from 'BR 601' and 'BRS 506' showed the highest values of crude protein, whereas those of 'SF 15' and 'Sudão' had the highest levels of fibrous fractions. Lambs fed silage from 'IPA 2502' consumed more dry matter and nonfibrous carbohydrates, and their crude protein digestibility was also greater than that from the consumption of other cultivar silages. 'IPA 2502' stands out for its nutritional characteristics, which resulted in better animal performance.

AB - The objective of this work was to evaluate the silage quality, fermentation profile, intake, and digestibility of six sorghum cultivars for sheep feeding. 'SF 15', 'IPA 2502', 'BRS 655', 'BR 601', 'BRS 506', and 'Sudão' were cultivated in randomized complete block designs with five replicates, harvested, and ensiled when plants reached the soft-dough grain stage. Silage quality was determined in laboratory silos. Intake and apparent digestibility were determined during 22 days, using 24 Santa Inês lambs (35.5±2.21 kg) randomly distributed in the treatments. Silage from 'IPA 2502' had the lowest contents of dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber; the highest nonfibrous carbohydrate and total digestible nutrient contents; and the greatest dry matter degradability. Silages from 'BR 601' and 'BRS 506' showed the highest values of crude protein, whereas those of 'SF 15' and 'Sudão' had the highest levels of fibrous fractions. Lambs fed silage from 'IPA 2502' consumed more dry matter and nonfibrous carbohydrates, and their crude protein digestibility was also greater than that from the consumption of other cultivar silages. 'IPA 2502' stands out for its nutritional characteristics, which resulted in better animal performance.

KW - Digestibility

KW - Fermentation profile

KW - Nutritional value

KW - Ruminants

KW - Semiarid conditions

KW - Sorghum

U2 - 10.1590/S0100-204X2018000200015

DO - 10.1590/S0100-204X2018000200015

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85044469109

VL - 53

SP - 256

EP - 264

JO - Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira

JF - Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira

SN - 0100-204X

IS - 2

ER -