Solutions for Better Grass Silage Quality and Higher Animal Performance

High-quality, well-preserved silage helps maximize profitability through higher production of meat or milk, and reduces costs of expensive supplements.

30.07.2020

by
Dr. Vesna Jenkins

In Brief
• Making silage is a cost-effective feeding solution.
• Preserving energy and protein in the dry matter is important to prevent future animal productivity.
• Silage inoculants can provide a solution to storage challenges, preserving energy and protecting silage from bacterial growth.

Making silage enables the farmer to store forage, providing a cost-effective feed when required. Between silage making and feeding out, however, the challenge is to ensure that valuable dry matter, energy and protein are not lost. Any losses would require supplementation from sources that are more expensive, otherwise animal productivity could suffer. During the phases of preparation, ensiling and feeding out there is also the opportunity for undesirable organisms to grow in the silage that could compromise silage nutritive and hygienic quality.

Biomin® BioStabil Plus silage inoculant has the right amount and the right types of homo- and heterofermentative bacteria (Table 1) to deliver all the desired outcomes, including preservation of energy. The formulation contains therapid growing powerful lactic-acid-producing homofermentative strain L. plantarum DSM 19457, which ensures sufficient lactic acid production for a rapid pH drop in ensiled forage and secures the protection of dry matter, energy and protein losses in the fermentation period.

The formulation contains also L. kefiri DSM 19455with another selected heterofermentative strain L. brevis DSM 23231, which produce a sufficient acetic acid to provide enhanced aerobic stability in the feed out phase. The combination, containing one homofermentative and two heterofermentative strains also protects against the growth of undesirable bacteria (e.g. Clostridia, Figure 1), yeasts and molds during and after ensiling, helping prevent loss of valuable dry matter, energy and protein from the silage (Figure 2 and 3).

Table 1: Biomin® BioStabil Plus product characteristics

Figure 1. L. brevis in Biomin® BioStabil Plus reduces Clostridia spores in grass silage, BIOMIN Research Center. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published data, which shows a significant effect of BioStabil’s L. brevis strain in reducing Clostridia spores.

Figure 2. Biomin® BioStabil Plus preserves energy in a wide range of crops and dry matter contents. Data from several field trials conducted in Austria and The Netherlands

Figure 3. Comparison of the ammonia nitrogen (% of total N) levels in silages with or without
Biomin® BioStabil Plus. A higher ammonia N level is an indicator of protein losses

The production of quality, well-preserved silage ensures that the investment put into silage making is not wasted. Most importantly, the energy and protein preserved helps maximize profitability through higher production of meat or milk, and reduces costs of expensive supplements.

Contact your local BIOMIN representative to access valuable resources and advice on all aspects of optimized silage management.