SILAGE ADDITIVES

Many farmers don't use a silage additive for any of their silage making. Typical reasons given are:

• I wilt my silage so I don't need a silage additive to make good silage.
• Silage additives cost too much and don't give any payback.
• Additives are corrosive and dangerous as well as increasing the amount of effluent produced.
• My silage analysis shows I make good silage.

So what is good silage?

You need to ask yourself what do you want? This maybe different in differing farm circumstances. Early cut silages with high D values are still vital in high performance herds even if fed with maize silage. Cutting early in the season is the way to achieve this but problems of wilting and fermentation can occur.

The above actual silage samples did not have any additives applied.

Are they good silages?

Samples A and B are typically low in crude protein and energy but what about the fermentation? They are dry silages so should not be a problem, but have a look at the fermentation characteristics. High Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA's) shows that some undesirable fermentation took place and lactic acid did not dominate the fermentation. At these dry matters Lactic Acid should be 50 - 60 grms and represent 70% of the total fermentation acids. In these cases the VFA are likely to be acetate, which will restrict intake. These silages will not be stable. Once opened they will suffer badly from aerobic spoilage and possible yeast action. This would be worsened by poor consolidatory bag / clamp management at feeding.

What about sample C?

This silage is quite wet but has a high Ph. This also has low levels of lactic acid, and butyric acid will dominate the VFA's, and the 3:1 ratio of VFA to Lactic Acid is the complete opposite of what is desired. The VFA's are likely to give an increased level of butyric acid. If we assume that there is 20 grms of butyric acid per kg DM and 10kg DM is fed of this silage this is 200 grms / day. This creates a very high risk situation of ketosis in the cow as well as reducing intakes significantly.

Conclusions

• Wilting does not guarantee a desirable silage.
• The payback on a good additive can be 5:1 in terms of improved digestibility, intakes and improved yields.
• Inoculants produce much less effluent than acids and are safe to use.
• As the comparisons above demonstrate, what you may think is a good silage analysis does not always prove to be a good silage.
  

The silage additives recognised world wide as being effective are ECOSYL products. They have been evaluated under a wide range of conditions and have shown consistent results in improving D value and milk yields. Please see the additive selector below and then follow the links for further details of individual products or go to www.ecosyl.com

Additive selector

ECOSYL Products offers a complete range of silage additives. They are designed to be 'task specific' rather than 'crop specific', ie they are formulated to deal with the specific problems associated with each crop type. It is not always necessary to have a different product for each crop.

The unique MTD/1 strain has been proven over a wide range of crop types and no further fermentation / animal performance benefits have been found by adding other strains. Different numbers of MTD/1 bacteria may be applied to different crops, however, depending on the ensiling conditions, especially DM and sugar contents.

The new range of hybrid acid / inoculants all include a special formulation of potassium sorbate which is a more reliable solution than an inoculant for the problem of aerobic spoilage. They all still contain MTD/1 for added fermentation and animal performance benefits.

ECOSYL

The conservation of good grass is one of the main factors to better profit. Whether you are a dairy or beef farmer, quality milk or beef is of paramount importance. Quality silage can often be assisted by a good additive and the one with the most independent feeding trials and the one that has stood the test of time is the range marketed by ECOSYL PRODUCTS

ECOSYL FOR YOUR GRASS SILAGE - DID YOU KNOW?

• You can buy 5 different types of Ecosyl for your grass
• Ecosyl 66 liquid - A 66 tonne treatment bottle to apply at 1.5 litres/tonne silage.
• Ecosyl 66 dry - In a 25 Kg bag for powder applicators, 66 tonnes/ bag.
• Ecosyl ULV (Ultra Low Volume) - To apply at 20 mls/tonne 'A fill lasts all day'.
• Ecosyl Double Action liquid (acid & innoculant) - to reduce heating & waste in drier grass silages.
• Ecosyl Double Action dry (acid & innoculant) - to treat the drier silages with a powder applicator.
• All are available through us on early order terms - Order now for delivery April/May2008.
• All 5 types are guaranteed to apply at least 1 Million bacteria per gramme of forage
• The bacteria used in Ecosyl is MTD1, isolated originally at the local ICI 'Dairy House Farm'. This bit of Cheshire is now used to make silage in over 20 countries. Ecosyl is one of very few silage products manufactured in the UK
• 15 totally independent, published dairy trials show an average gain of 1.2 Litres of milk /cow/day as a result of treating forage with MTD1. 9 fattening trials show 9% increase in daily carcass gain. This is a product we sell for Solid Performance not Possible Insurance. There is probably more published proof for Ecosyl than all the others put together.

If you are planning to spend on a silage product spend on the tried and tested one.

ULV low volume application

If you are using low volume application check out Ecosyl ULV, it has been the only product available for low volume work at 1 million bacteria per gram the competitors claim only 10% of this number. Before you buy any low volume applicator you have to see the Ecosyler, it is blockage free & versatile. You may be buying product applying 100,000 bacteria per gramme at a Million bacteria pergramme price

ECOSYL 66

Cost £1.18 per tonne - if ordered before 31st January 2008 (£78 per bottle)

A silage inoculant designed to speed up and simplify handling and application at harvest, improve fermentation in the clamp, and increase both daily intake and milk yield.

For clamped grass where aerobic stability is not an issue Apply at 1½ litres per tonne Applies 1 million bacteria per gram of grass guaranteed 3 Day tank mix life 1 bottle treats 66 tonnes of grass (mix with 100 litres of water) GMO Free and suitable for Organic use

DOUBLE ACTION ECOSYL

Cost £1.92 per tonne - if ordered before 31st January 2008 (£96 per can)

This additive brings together both an acid and an inoculant in one. Designed for clamped grass silage where aerobic spoilage could be an issue for high dry matter grass, wide clamps, second cuts and buffer feeding. It gives all the fermentation and animal performance benefits of Ecosyl 66 plus improved aerobic stability.

For clamped high DM Silage (above 30%) Inoculant and Acid applied at 2 litres per tonne Applies 1 million bacteria per gram of grass guaranteed 2 day tank mix life 1 can treats 50 tonnes grass (mix with 100 litres of water) GMO Free and restricted for Organic use

Ecosyl Products have won the 2007 Queens Award for Enterprise in support of Dairy Farmers globally.

Call the office on 01606 738617 to place your order.

Reference / Further Reading

Silage Making Tips - The Nine Basic Rules...

Ecosyl 66

Ecobale

DoubleAction Ecosyl

DoubleAction Ecobale

DoubleAction Ecocorn

ADD-F NC

ClampFilm