Overtime losses of nutritional and fermentation traits in re-ensiled maize silage

Re-ensiled maize (Zea mays L.) silage is an important ready-to-use product for feeding ruminants in urgent circumstances at dairy or beef farms.However, in recent decades, there has been little investigation into the possible re-ensiled silage losses caused by the storage time.The objective of this study was to evaluate losses in chemical, fermentation and digestibility parameters of whole-plant maize silage re-ensiled in proper plastic bags over time.Treatments consisted of six silage storage periods in the reallocation silos (30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 d).Contents of DM, starch, non-fiber carbohydrates, and total digestible nutrients decreased linearly over time (P < 0.001).In contrast, consistent gains in crude protein, ether extract, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), lignin, ash, and Ca concentrations were observed as the storage time increased (P < 0.001).Concentrations of digestible NDF after 240 h and digestible in situ starch decreased as the storage time advanced (P < 0.001).The lactic/acetic acid ratio decreased from day 73 rd onwards (P = 0.002) while fermentation losses increased from day 54 th onwards (P = 0.001).The nutritional value and fermentation quality of re-ensiled maize silage decrease over time.However, it is possible to open reallocation silos from 30 to 150 d after the re-ensiling process to obtain a proper-parameter maize silage.