Effects of the Types of Sealing on Chemical-Fermentation Characteristics of Corn Silage from the Feed out Face of Trench Silos

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of different types of sealing on the physical losses of dry matter, chemical and fermentation characteristics and in situ digestibility of the dry matter of corn silage stored in the feed out face (ramp) of trench silos. The experimental design used randomized blocks, composed of three treatments, namely: T1 - corn silage preserved with double-sided polyethylene of 110 μm thickness (conventional seal); T2 - corn silage preserved with double-sided polyethylene of 200 μm thickness (double-sided); and T3 - corn silage preserved with oxygen-impermeable film composed of double-sided polyethylene of 80 μm thickness on a translucent vacuum polyamide film of 20 μm thickness (double sealing), with four repetitions each. The use of double-sided polyethylene with 200 μm thickness (double-sided) and oxygen impermeable film composed of double-sided polyethylene and polyamide (double sealing), were effective in preserving the chemical composition, fermentation profile, raw protein composition and fiber quality, in addition, the use of these polymers resulted in greater ruminal digestibility of dry matter and reduced the pH, temperature, temperature gradient and physical losses of corn silage from the feed out face (ramp) of trench silos compared to the conventional sealing.