Adding Anhydrous Ammonia to Corn Silage by Ronald T. Schuler Introduction Application of anhydrous ammonia (NH3) is a low cost method of adding non-protein-nitrogen to your corn silage. If you have a shortage of high protein feed, such as good quality alfalfa silage or hay, adding anhydrous ammonia to corn silage may be appropriate. Anhydrous ammonia […]
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Corn Shredlage for Dairy Cows by Luiz Ferraretto and Randy Shaver Introduction Garnering much recent interest by dairy producers and their nutritionists has been a new method of harvesting whole-plant corn for silage. The resultant product has been called corn shredlage by the developer of the process (Shredlage™, LLC; http://www.shredlage.com/) and the manufacturer of the new […]
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Influence of Ensiling on the Digestibility of Whole-Plant Corn Silage by Luiz Ferraretto1, Randy Shaver1, and Joe Lauer2 1Department of Dairy Science, UW-Madison 2Department of Agronomy, UW-Madison Introduction Increasing starch or neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility in whole-plant corn silage (WPCS) may increase lactation performance by dairy cows or reduce purchased feed costs for dairy farmers. The digestibility […]
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Silage Preservation: First Things First by Brian J. Holmes bjholmes@wisc.edu Harvest at Correct Stage of Maturity Why? High levels of readily available carbohydrate are needed to ferment into acids. What Stage? Alfalfa – early to mid bloom, Corn – 1/3 – 1⁄2 half milk line Harvest at Correct Moisture Why? Too dry… high porosity (oxygen penetration) reduced acid production […]
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Adding Enzymes to Silage by Patrick Hoffman and Richard Muck Introduction Enzyme addition to silages has received considerable attention over the past decade. Their primary function is to break down forage fiber during fermentation, rendering the silage more digestible during feedout. The breakdown of fiber into soluble sugars also helps bacteria produce lactic acid, which helps […]
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Lactobacillus buchneri for Silage Aerobic Stability by David K. Combs and Patrick C. Hoffman Department of Dairy Science University of Wisconsin-Madison Introduction Lactobacillus buchneri is a bacterial inoculant approved for use in grass silages, corn silage, legume silage and high moisture grains. Lactobacillus buchneri has been demonstrated to improve aerobic stability of silages by reducing the growth […]
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Microbial Inoculants for Silage by Francisco Contreras-Govea and Richard Muck Introduction Ensiling is an important means to preserve forage quality. Although silage fermentation occurs naturally under anaerobic conditions due to the native bacteria on plants, the speed and efficiency of the fermentation (pH drop) is variable, depending on the numbers and types of lactic acid bacteria […]
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Silage inoculants: What the research tells us about when and how to use them With all of the variables – crop varieties, weather, packing density, speed of covering – no two silage crops are ever the same, which is why scientists are reluctant to give blanket statements regarding when and how to use silage inoculants. […]
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Inoculating High Moisture Corn by Patrick Hoffman and Richard Muck (revised December, 2011) Introduction High moisture corn (HMC) is harvested between 25 and 35% moisture content and stored in a silo where it is preserved through fermentation. The optimum harvest moisture for good fermentation of HMC is 28 to 32%. In general, high moisture corn ferments […]
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Making Sure Your Kernel Processor Is Doing Its Job by Kevin J. Shinners and Brian J. Holmes Introduction For cows to digest the starch in corn efficiently, the corn kernels in chopped and processed whole-plant corn must be broken into small particles. Three decades ago it was thought that effective starch utilization occurred if […]
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