Bacterial Abundance, Fermentation Pattern, and Chemical Composition of Oat Haylage Are Altered by the Forage Dehydration Method

The present study aimed to evaluate the aerobic stability, fermentation profile, microbiological diversity, and bromatological composition of the haylage of white oats obtained using three dehydration methods: (1) Mechanical (MEC); (2) Mechanical + Bacterial chemical compound (MEC + BCC); and (3) Chemical (CHE), where Glyphosate was used as a desiccant. The haylage made with the forage dehydrated by the mechanical method showed lower aerobic stability (69.20 h) and a higher cumulative temperature from 0 to 84 h and from 0 to 168 h (12.73 °C and 25.91 °C, respectively). The haylage made with Glyphosate-desiccated forage had higher concentrations of acetic acid (3.96 g kg−1) and isobutyric acid (0.78 g kg−1). The microbiological diversity and richness did not differ among the haylages produced. However, the relative abundance of the genera Pantoea and Lactobacillus was higher in the haylage made with Glyphosate-desiccated forage. The bacterial chemical compound guaranteed a haylage with lower lignin content (31.97 g kg−1), lower acid detergent nitrogen (7.54 g kg−1), and higher hemicellulose (211.72 g kg−1). The haylage made from dehydrated forage by the Mechanical + Bacterial Chemical Compound methods presented a better fermentation pattern and had lower fermentation losses, and its bromatological quality was superior to the others.