Corn Silage Production and Management

The majority of preservatives and inoculants are designed to promote lactic acid production, reduce dry matter losses during storage, reduce heating, and extend bunk life. In some cases, one or more of these benefits have been observed in controlled trials, but not in all. Similarly, some studies found some improvement in milk production but not others.

Organic acids, such as propionic or acetic-propionic mixtures or their salts, certain enzymes alone or in combination with antioxidants, and silage inoculants containing one or more types of bacteria have all been studied. while using these products, make sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions. However, the products cannot compensate for poor ensiling, dry matter harvesting, packing, feeding, or silo management practices.

Corn silage transportation

It is occasionally necessary to transfer corn silage from one silo to another. This is often possible with little risk if the silage is well preserved, as indicated by pH, smell, and bunk life. The transfer should be completed as soon as possible and in cool weather. When transferring silage, packing is critical. Transferring drier silage often results in much higher losses, and transferring marginal quality silage is not recommended.

Corn silage evaluation

Once the silage has fermented sufficiently, which usually takes 3 weeks, a sample should be obtained for forage analysis in order to develop a feeding program. This analysis can also give those involved in the silage production process feedback. Some target values for corn silage nutrient values, as well as potential problems. The pH of the silage and the fermentation acids can provide information about whether the fermentation occurred under ideal conditions. A large dataset provided by a commercial feed-testing laboratory was recently surveyed for fermentation acid levels, pH, and ammonia levels. Dry matter influenced fermentation characteristics, with wetter silages having lower pH values, higher fermentation acid levels, and higher ammonia levels.

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