Press Release
Silage could be improved by greater focus on
preservation practices, survey suggests
Dairy farmers looking to reduce bought-in feed costs by making more milk from homegrown grass could take a step nearer by focusing more closely on some key aspects of
silage-making, results of a new survey suggest.
Conducted among more than 100 UK dairy farmers, a massive 78% thought they could
make better grass silage, says Jackie Bradley, product manager for Ecosyl, who organised
the survey.
But most producers simply didn’t feel in control of the preservation process, she says, with
fermentation, in particular, emerging as an area where control could potentially be
improved.
“Just 19% of respondents said they felt completely in control of how well their grass silage
turned out once they had sealed the clamp,” says Mrs Bradley, “with 85% in a further
question saying they would like to feel more in control.
“But it was only when we dug deeper into silage-making practices that we uncovered
fermentation as providing some key opportunities for improvement.”
For example, Mrs Bradley says only half of respondents realised that crop dry matter at
harvest has a big impact on grass silage fermentation, while some aspects of the forage
‘pickling’ process which takes place as a result of fermentation also seemed poorly
understood.
More …
“During fermentation, beneficial bacteria convert some of the crop’s sugars into acids,
which pickle the forage,” says Mrs Bradley. “Yet only 20% of respondents recognised
fermentation as a process whereby forage is pickled in acid. Also, 28% of respondents
thought that a good silage fermentation was largely dependent on the bacteria naturally
present on grass.
“Relying solely on the bacteria on grass effectively reduces your control of preservation –
because you don’t know if you have enough of the best type of bacteria for a fast and
efficient fermentation.
“There may also be undesirable bugs present – such as enterobacteria, clostridia, yeasts
and moulds – which can waste nutrients and potentially result in a poor fermentation, and
encourage spoilage at feedout.
“However, adding bacteria with a quality silage additive applies as many as one million
beneficial bacteria per gram of forage treated, when used correctly – bacteria that have
been specially selected to be highly efficient at fermentation,” she adds.
Looking at other aspects of clamp management from the survey, Mrs Bradley says
although 90% of respondents did roll continuously when consolidating, only 38% said they
normally filled the clamp in layers no more than 15cm thick. But this is the maximum depth
that can be consolidated effectively, she stresses.
“Also, only 17% said they achieved a grass dry matter density of 250 kg per cubic metre
when consolidating, which is the optimum for grass at 30% dry matter,” she notes.
“If you want to maximise self-sufficiency in home-produced forage, good grass silage is a
valuable asset. However, producing it is a joined-up process.
“With nearly 80% of respondents saying they thought they could make better grass silage,
if you are serious about producing it, you have to put yourself in better control at every
stage.
More …
“As we have seen from bacterial silage additive research, the follow-on benefits of a good
fermentation can be numerous. They include reduced dry matter losses, improved silage
ME and digestibility, and improved milk yield per cow – with an average of an extra 1.2
litres/cow/day in the case of adding Lactobacillus plantarum MTD/1 bacteria across a
range of forages.”
Photo: Silage harvest (from JB)
Caption: Most dairy farmers in the survey realised they were not in control of how
well their grass silage turned out once they had sealed the clamp, with fermentation
revealed as a key area with opportunities for improvement
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Date: 5 April 2017
Further information from:
Jackie Bradley
Regional Product Manager
Volac International Limited
Tel: 01223 206 827
Mobile: 07736 967 665
E-mail: [email protected]