Effect of sorbic acid and dual‐purpose inoculants on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of high dry matter rice straw silage

Aims This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of sorbic acid (SA) as a silage additive and its effects on fermentation quality and aerobic stability of high dry matter (DM) silage. Methods and Results High DM rice straw was ensiled with distilled water (C), 1 × 106 CFU per gram fresh weight (FW) Lactobacillus plantarum and 1 × 106 CFU per gram FW Lactobacillus buchneri (LP+LB) or SA for 45 days with a subsequent aerobic stability test. After ensiling, LP+LB silage had the highest lactic acid (LA) content and the lowest pH value, whereas SA silage had the highest DM and water‐soluble carbohydrate (WSC) contents, and the lowest ethanol and ammonia nitrogen (NH3‐N) contents among all silages (P