Silage Feeding Suggestions for Pioneer® brand Fiber Technology Inoculants
• The proprietary Lactobacillus buchneri strain in Pioneer®
brand Fiber Technology (FT) inoculants produces specific
enzymes (ferulate and acetyl esterase) as it grows in the
silage mass. These enzymes attack the ester bond linking
cell wall polysaccharides to indigestible lignin resulting in
more rapid fiber digestion by rumen bacteria.
• There is no problem with feeding FT-treated silages
immediately upon ensiling, but the full benefit of the
enzyme activity will not be realized until the silage has
fermented for 60 days.
• Nutritionists should balance diets containing new-crop
forages and ensiled grains using standard lab analyses and
their normal ration formulation approach without any
considerations for the effect of FT inoculants. This will allow
time to stabilize the diet and address the major differences
in NDFD, starch content and/or starch digestion rates in the
new-crop compared to the old-crop silages.
• The FT inoculant benefit of increased fiber digestibility and
higher rumen bacterial populations (bypass protein source)
allows for the fine-tuning of the diet and the possible removal
of some grain and protein. Dry matter intake will not be
significantly increased as is the case with reduced lignin
crops like BMR corn silage or sorghum. Lignin levels and
fiber fragility (effective fiber effect) will be similar between
normal silages and those inoculated with FT inoculants.
Ration Balancing
When software allows for digestion rate changes
• Some ration balancing programs allow for modifying the
digestion rates (Kd) of the B-pool carbohydrate fractions
of feedstuffs: B1 (starch), B2 (soluble fiber) and B3
(NDF). Rather than using book values, nutritionists can
fine-tune diets and potentially reduce concentrate and
protein supplementation (depending upon the digestion
kinetics of the previous-years forage crops) by adjusting
these rates due to the effect of FT-inoculants on the Bpool carbohydrates.
• B3 digestion rates, calculated from NDF, lignin and single,
time-point NDFD values, are reported on many laboratory
forage analyses by employing the VanAmburgh Rate
Calculator (available as a spreadsheet from the laboratory
or from DuPont Pioneer ([email protected])).
• A preliminary starting point for modifying the B3 digestion
rate for the effect of FT-inoculants is to increase the 48-hr
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NDFD value by 4 percentage points and input the newly
calculated B3 digestion rate value into the ration program feed
table. However, field experience suggests that increasing B3
rates by 15-20%, (which the VanAmburgh spreadsheet
predicts from a 4-percentage point increase in NDFD), will not
fully account for the effect of FT products on the B3 fraction
nor adjust for increased rates of the B1 (starch) and B2
(soluble fiber). Analysis of FT-silages suggest that when cell
wall components are decoupled from lignin, their rates of
digestion begin to approach that of faster digesting
carbohydrates such as soluble fiber or starch requiring that
the rates of B1 and B2 pools also be modified in FT-silages.
• Current NIR or wet chemistry fiber digestion methods do not
have the sensitivity to predict the digestion rate increases that
have been proven in animal research trials with FT-inoculants.
Fermentrics™ analysis system is a sophisticated gasproduction lab method available through Dairyland
Laboratories which has proven capable of measuring the
increase in B1, B2 and B3 digestion rates as a result of the
enzyme activity of FT inoculants.
• A Fermentrics analysis of the FT-treated silage after 2months of fermentation along with the newly rebalanced
lactating diet should be helpful in further adjusting rates and
inclusion levels of supplemental protein and grain.
• It is preferred to directly measure the B-pool digestion rates
with a Fermentrics analysis, however, hundreds of
Fermentrics analyses has shown that the B-pool
carbohydrate rates are increased, on average, by the
amount shown in the table below (example: FT-corn silage
book value B3 rate of 3.4%/ hour should be increased by
35% to 4.6%/hour). Adjusting book values upwards by
these percentages is a possible approach, but only if the
feed library B-pool rates approximate the true rates of the
forage (which is unlikely given the huge growing
environment impact on carbohydrate digestion rates).
Table 1. Expected increase in B-pool digestion
rates due to FT inoculant activity
Pioneer ® inoculants
11CFT and 11GFT
Pioneer ® inoculant
11AFT
B1 (starch)
50%
60%
B2 (soluble fiber)
30%
60%
B3 (NDF)
35%
20%
B-pool
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When software does not allow for digestion rate changes
• Cows should be monitored and the diet gradually modified
to account for the changes in rate and extent of fiber
digestibility in FT-silages compared to old-crop silages. This
is best accomplished by monitoring feed intake, milk
production, milk components and manure consistency.
Depending on growing condition influence, new-crop silage
treated with FT-inoculant, may result in higher, similar or
lower digestibility compared to old-crop.
• Field experience has demonstrated that Pioneer® inoculant
11CFT-treated corn silage being fed at a typical inclusion
rate of 50 lbs of corn silage/cow/day (as fed or @35% DM,
17.5 lbs DM/cow/day), allows producers to remove about 2
lbs of corn meal (as fed) and 0.75 lbs of 44% crude protein
soybean meal (as fed) without any change in cow
production or body condition (corn silage or other forage
inclusion can be increased to offset the removal of grain
and protein). These amounts can be adjusted up/down
based on higher or lower ration inclusion rates of FT-silage.
• A starting point for concentrate removal when feeding FTtreated cereal, grass or legumes silage at typical rates of 35
lbs/cow/day (as fed or @55% DM 19.2 lbs DM/cow/day), is
about 0.5 lbs of 44% crude protein meal (as fed) and 0.2 lbs of
corn meal (as fed). These amounts can be adjusted up/down
based on higher or lower ration inclusion rates of FT-silage.
• Increased inclusion rate of forages is a benefit of FT-silages,
potentially increasing total daily starch loads with FT-treated
corn or cereal silages. Adjustments will also be necessary
for increased starch digestibility over time in storage
between new-crop and old crop feeds.
• Follow-up with herds expressing production problems when
feeding FT-silage typically revealed borderline levels for
starch content and/or physically effective fiber. Fat
depression and acidosis issues were quickly resolved by
reducing grain (especially highly ruminally fermentable highmoisture corn), increasing forage inclusion rates (and
effective fiber) and/or adding co-products that delivered
sources of soluble fiber.
The foregoing is provided for informational purposes only. Please
consult with your nutritionist or veterinarian for suggestions specific to
your operation.
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