Filamentous fungi in wrapped forages determined with different sampling and culturing methods

The use of wrapped forage bales with high dry‐matter (DM) content implies risk of fungal growth inside the wrapping, and impaired feed quality. Since fungi may be unevenly distributed in bales, the method of sampling can influence the outcome of the analysis. Three common sampling methods for detection of fungi in wrapped forage were compared: direct plating of visible mouldy patches on bale surfaces (Method I), direct plating of pieces of foliage from drilled core samples (Method II) and quantitative analysis dilution series of drilled core samples (Method III). All samples were cultured on two media at two temperatures. Samples were collected from 124 farms in Sweden and Norway. Using Methods I, II and III, fungi were detected on 52%, 77% and 56% of the farms respectively. Fifty‐two fungal species were identified using a combination of culturing and molecular methods. The most predominant species were Arthrinium spp., found on 55% of the farms, followed by Penicillium roqueforti at 48% of the farms. Incubation at 25°C resulted in higher numbers of all genera, except Aspergillus, compared to incubation at 37°C. The different methods of sampling and culturing did not identify the same fungal species within the same bale. Analysing one bale per farm resulted in detection of less than half the number of species compared to analysing three bales. Of the sampling and culturing methods compared, direct plating of drilled core samples cultivated at malt extract agar at 25°C performed best in terms of qualitative analysis of fungi species.