Effect of inoculated or ammoniated high-moisture ear corn on finishing performance of steers

We investigated the effects of inoculated or ammoniated high-moisture ear corn (HMEC) on fermentation characteristics of silages, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance and finishing performance of steers. The HMEC was ensiled in both mini silos and press bags. The following treatments were compared: (1) Uninoculated HMEC (CO); (2) Homolactic bacterial inoculated HMEC (HOBI; Lactobacillus plantarum and Enterococcus faecium 0.91 × 105 cfu/g of fresh HMEC); (3) Heterolactic bacterial inoculated HMEC (HEBI; Lactobacillus buchneri 1.0 × 105 cfu/g of fresh HMEC); (4) Ammonia treated HMEC (AMMO; aqueous solution of NH4OH, 295 g/kg NH3, 0.90 kg/L was applied at 16 g/kg of fresh HMEC). For the finishing trial, 36 steers were fed HMEC-based diets over 142 days according to an incomplete block design. Four additional steers were used in a 4 × 4 Latin Square design to measure the nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance of diets. The AMMO silage was highest in pH, ammonia, and soluble carbohydrates compared with CO, HOBI and HEBI silages. Digestibility of DM, OM, aNDF, ADF, and starch were not different (P>0.15) among treatments. Nitrogen retention was also not affected (P>0.20) by treatments. No impact (P>0.15) on body weight gain, gain to feed ratio, hot carcass weight, carcass yield and carcass grading of steers was observed during the finishing phase. In conclusion, inoculation of HMEC with homo- or hetero lactic bacteria or aqueous ammonia resulted in marginal changes in fermentation characteristics leading to similar diet digestibility and comparable performance during the finishing phase of steers.