Effect of Associations of Additives on pH and NDF in Sugar Cane Silages (\u3cem\u3eSaccharum officinarum\u3c/em\u3e)

An alternative to the seasonality of forage production in grazing-lands is the maintenance of feed supplies through the use of silages (Carvalho et al. 2007). Sugar cane stands out for silage production, mainly because of its high yield per hectare. There are, however, restrictions to its use in cattle production systems including the daily cutting demands, low digestibility of fiber and low contents of protein and minerals. Sugar cane ensiling can solve, or even reduce the seasonality of the crop and the losses by fire or frost, and has been utilized in cattle raising for these logistic and operational benefits. The fermentative losses of sugar cane silage can, however, make its utilization unviable. The predominance of alcoholic fermentations in those silages requires additives to improve the aerobic stability and reduce dry matter losses. The additives act upon the fermentation of silage, alter the ensiled mass and inhibit the development of undesirable microorganisms in the fermentation (Santos 2007). In spite of the great volume of studies in recent years on the use of additives in sugar cane ensiling, whether it be bacterial, chemical or organic, there is still significant discrepancy between the results. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of different associations of additives on pH and on the neutral detergent fiber contents in sugar cane silages