**Author details**

Considering an overall mean, homolactic inoculation unaffected DM losses in corn, grass, HMC, and sorghum silages, but reduced DM loss in alfalfa silages. However, an unexpected increase in aerobic stability of grass silage was reported due to homolactic inoculation. The greater frequency of positive response was also observed for grass silages when treated with hoLAB. Conversely, heterolactic inoculation revealed to be more interesting than homolactic inoculants to reduce fermentation losses in sugarcane silage, and positive responses were found most often. In addition, enhanced aerobic stability was reported for corn and HMC silages when they were treated with heLAB. Overall, the results of the current survey regarding fermentation patterns of inoculated silages are encouraging, mainly for grass and sugarcane silages. Otherwise, the impact of bacterial inoculant on silage quality (i.e., fermentation patterns, chemical composition, and nutritive value) appeared to diminish as the quality of

Despite of animal performance and considering the overall means, inoculation consistently depressed DM intake in cattle fed corn, grass, and sugarcane silages, but DM intake increased in sheep due to inoculation. There were not a consistent effect of bacterial inoculants on silage digestibility, which largely varied depending the animal and crop evaluated. Conversely, cattle fed inoculated sugarcane silage had a greater frequency of positive response on ADG. The performance of animals consuming inoculated silages has been investigated in Brazil only a few times, but the data suggest a greater impact of bacterial inoculants on DM intake and weight gain in cattle and sheep than that indicated under temperate conditions. However, the number of studies evaluating animal performance still remains quite low, especially for dairy cows fed inoculated silage, and this survey did not provide a definitive conclusion about the effect of bacterial inoculants on animal perform-

Finally, we need caution to interpret the data of the current survey because the potential of bacterial inoculants measured by studies containing positive responses were highly variable and deeply associated with number of studies. Hence, a greater frequency of positive responses was often observed when there were a low number of studies evaluated. Additionally, positive responses were clearly impacted by the group of microorganisms (homo and heterofermentative LAB) and it determined the success of bacterial inoculant applications in silage. In this way, the compatibility between the plants and microorganisms used at ensiling should be taken into account in further studies, as well as its applicability on farm. In addition, further studies may consider assessing animal performance and sanitary aspects related to the use of bacterial

'The authors wish to express their appreciation to Lallemand Animal Nutrition for collaborating with this survey and providing financial support' by 'The authors wish to thank the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP grant #2016/04484-0) and Lallemand Animal Nutrition

for collaborating with this survey and providing financial support'.

ensiled crop increased.

32 Advances in Silage Production and Utilization

ance (cattle and sheep).

**Acknowledgements**

inoculants since there is a lack of data about it.

Carlos H.S. Rabelo1\*, Lucas J. Mari2 and Ricardo A. Reis1,3

\*Address all correspondence to: carlos.zoo@hotmail.com

1 Department of Animal Science, São Paulo State University, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil

2 Lallemand Animal Nutrition, Aparecida de Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

3 Department of Animal Science, INCT/CA, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
