AGRICULTURAL
Ensuring silage quality
Ensiling is a key process to preserve forage and crops for cost-effective animal feed . Getting the silage process right is critical to maximize feed value , and to ensure good animal productivity and health .
� By dr Vesna Jenkins Product Manager , BIOMIN , Austria
Preserve is the key word here . All too often , a sub-optimal ensiling process compromises the feed value of silage with the loss of valuable energy and protein . Trained BIOMIN staff can help you in your silage making decisions and achieve your end goal of top quality silage .
Part of this process is to ensure that the right bacteria are driving the fermentation process . A quality silage inoculant with the right blend of homo- and heterofermentative bacteria helps ensure that silage quality is not left to chance . The homofermentative bacteria ( lactic acid producers ) should be a selected strain to ensure as rapid a pH drop as possible to prevent the establishment of undesirable bacteria . The heterofermentative bacteria should produce a balance of lactic acid and acetic acid to help maintain that low pH as well as protect against the growth of undesirable yeasts and molds and ensure good aerobic stability so that silage can hold its quality in the feed-out phase .
The right bacteria help drive fermentation in the right direction and this prevents other microbes from robbing valuable protein and energy resources in the ensiled forage . Nevertheless , even the best selection of bacteria cannot replace getting the fundamentals of silage making right . For this reason , BIOMIN staff have the knowledge and tools to help guide you in assessing and ensuring silage quality .
BIOMIN offers a full Silage Management Program covering all aspects of silage management . To help diagnose problems with aerobic stability , BIOMIN uses infrared thermal cameras for a visual check of the whole surface as well as thermometer rods , since it is important to investigate at least 20 cm deep into the silage face ( Borreanni , 2010 ).
Professional silage corers enable good representative sampling for an analysis and the laboratory results can be interpreted with BIOMIN technical support . The pH of the silage can , of course , be tested on the spot .
The main desirable product of fermentation is lactic acid and this has hardly any smell at all . The other smells that may come from silage can be indicators of issues in the fermentation process . For this reason , the technical team have samples of the natural chemicals that cause many of these smells and these help identify the dominant smells present . Butyric acid causes a pungent smell that could reduce palatability and is an indicator of Clostridia bacteria , which may have degraded forage protein and are undesirable for animal health . An over production of acetic acid ( a vinegar smell ) or the smell of alcohol ( resulting from yeast growth ) on the other hand could indicate a waste of energy levels in the silage . An intense smell of ammonia is evidence of protein breakdown again compromising silage quality .
As well as tools for directly checking silage quality , it is important to recognize that silage is an important part of the overall TMR and its quality will affect cow digestion and productivity . Our technical staff are able to do assessments of TMR particle size with the Penn State Separator method and also check manure quality and digestion with a “ digestion analyzer ” sieve kit .
Contact BIOMIN to find out more about the optimized , Biomin ® BioStabil silage inoculant range and access the full range of educational tools ( BIOMIN Silage Management Program booklet , video on silage management ( available in English and Afrikaans ) and technical support and service that comes from the BIOMIN team .
REFERENCE Borreani , G ., & Tabacco , E . ( 2010 ). The relationship of silage temperature with the microbiological status of the face of corn silage bunkers . Journal of Dairy Science , 93 ( 6 ), 2620-2629 .
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SENWES SCENARIO | WINTER 2018