Comparative Analysis of Wheat Hay and Silage in Methane Production, Fermentation Characteristics and Microbiota Using In Vitro Rumen Cultures

Abstract

This study determined the effects of wheat stage, preservation treatment, and harvest time on the fermentation characteristics, methane production, and bacterial diversity. In this study, processing wheat into hay can reduce methane production. The MWS7 (wheat harvested at 7:00 in milk stage and preserved as silage) group had a significantly lower CO2 compared with the DWS15 (wheat harvested at 15:00 in dough stage and preserved as silage) group. Neutral detergent fiber degradation in the hay treatment harvesting at 7:00 was significantly higher than that in other treatments. The butyrate proportion in the DWH7 (wheat harvested at 7:00 in dough stage and preserved as hay) group was higher than that in the MWS7 group. Results from high-throughput sequencing showed that there were differences in the relative abundance of some minor rumen microbiota among the treatments. The MWS7 group had greater microbial diversity and the MWH7 group (wheat harvested at 7:00 in milk stage and preserved as hay) had higher species richness. In addition, the MWH7 group had a lower Methanobrevibacter abundance and methane production. Overall, the MWH7 group may have advantages of rumen fermentation and reduce methane production.