Effects of moisture content and lactic acid bacteria additive on the quality of Italian ryegrass silage

The effects of moisture content and lactic acid bacteria additive on the quality of Italian ryegrass silage were investigated.Italian ryegrass(booting stage)was ensiled in plastic drums for 42 dwith application of lactic acid bacteria at 0,105,106 and 107 cfu/g fresh weight at three different moisture contents:85.23%,74.70% and 65.70%.Ensiling at 65.70% moisture produced good quality silage with or without addition of lactic acid bacteria but the highest quality silage resulted from the application of lactic acid bacteria.Silage quality was also good at 74.70% moisture but only with the addition of lactic acid bacteria;higher bacteria application rates improved silage quality.It is concluded that ensiling at 65.70% moisture with the addition of lactic acid bacteria(107 cfu/g fresh weight)produced the highest quality silage.