Optimize Research

Silage Trials with Kingshay

Kingshay provides a unique service to UK Dairy Farmers by carrying out research and training in key areas of farming.

Over the last 10 years they have tested and reported on the effectiveness of silage additives and provided guidance to good silage making practice and areas of priority on which farmers should concentrate so as to make the healthiest and most nutritious silage. They give the results, good or bad, completely independent of commercial bias. When silage additives are tested, they are measured for nutrient conservation, pH and effectiveness in controlling stability. In recent years a better understanding of the effects of mycotoxins on ruminants has led to more attention being paid to the stability aspects of silage preservation. The benefit of very stable silage is to improve dry matter intake and production from all types of silage.

In 2006, a stability trial was undertaken by Kingshay to the following protocol:

Optimize Inoculant v’s Untreated Control

Protocol:

The additive was tested alongside a no additive control
The additive was applied at the recommended rate
Four mini-silos of silage were made for each treatment
The grass was tested for quality and contamination before ensiling
The silos were sealed and left for 12 weeks
On opening, the silages was tested for quality and contamination
The silage was exposed to air and aerobic spoilage was monitored

The results were statistically analysed to highlight any significant differences between the treatments

Grass Quality

The additive (Optimize) was applied to a crop of perennial ryegrass from a 4 year old sward with approximately 10% clover. The grass was cut at Bridge Farm, Glastonbury during late morning on the 31st May 2006. The crop was wilted, then picked up by a trailed forage harvester on the 1st June. The weather and a delayed cutting date meant mature material was harvested which affected protein quality but good sugar levels and dry matter was achieved. More mature crops carry a heavier yeast and mould count, analysis of the grass at ensiling including lactobacillus count and yeast & mould count is given in the table below:-

Quality of grass entering the silos

Dry Matter %: 24.3
CP (%DM): 13.3
ME (MJ/kg DM): 11.4
Sugar (%DM): 20.2 (4.9% of fresh)
Yeasts (cfu/g): 41,721
Moulds (cfu/g): 193,473
Lactic Acid Bacteria (cfu/g): 1,221,000
Source: Kingshay

Optimize is an inoculant and enzyme combination designed to maximize stability of the silage at feed out, whilst improving the digestibility of the fibre fraction.

Results:

The Optimize treated compared to the no additive control, was assessed for aerobic stability and the results summarized in the table below.

Treatment	Aerobic Stability Index
No Additive	0
Optimize	+40

Source: Kingshay

Trial Summary

In the trial the use of Optimize silage additive provided improvements in silage quality, particularly fermentation characteristics, when compared to the no additive control.
Using Optimize resulted in more aerobically stable silage.

Source: Dr. Martin Yeates, Kingshay, Glastonbury, Somerset

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In recent years a better understanding of the effects of mycotoxins on ruminants has led to more attention being paid to the stability aspects of silage preservation.

Optimize Case Studies

Economic Silage Production

This dairy farmer with 200 cows had always aimed for a 4-5 week cutting cycle, but in the summer of 2005 because of milk price, made the decision to reduce contractor’s costs and go to 6 weekly intervals. In spite of saving a substantial amount on the chopping bill, the losses in milk from forage meant an overall loss in profitability the following winter of well over £20,000.

As a result the farm has reverted back to cutting young highly nutritious grass and treating with Optimize to ensure the nutrients are preserved without creating lots of acid.

With young grass it is important not to chop too short and never too low.

The table below shows the amount of milk produced in litres and how milk from forage declines with more mature silage.

The farmer said, ‘ 1st and 4th cuts didn’t have the same feed value as 2nd and 3rd cuts. A five week cutting regime is aimed for and this was achieved between 2nd and 3rd cut and 3rd and 4th cut. 1st cut was a very heavy crop although cut in the 1st week of May. The fields were left white which meant the crop was mature and the cows proved it was less digestible. As well as feeding less concentrate with 2nd and 3rd cuts the cows produces more milk,’

He added, ‘Forage quality is crucial to profit. With high quality forage, cows produce more milk from cheaper and smaller amounts of concentrate. Also the cows are healthier and easier to get in calf.’

Dry Matter Intake

To keep track of calf starter consumption, Clark clips colored clothespins on top of the hutches. When a calf eats 2 lb. of grain a day, he attaches a green clothespin.

After she has eaten 2 lb. of grain per day in two consecutive days, he clips a yellow clothespin on top of the hutch. After she has eaten 2 lb. a day for three days, Clark attaches a blue clothespin to the hutch and he weans the calf.

"We used to house our calves in 40 wooden hutches that were rarely cleaned out in the winter, and we used to wean at four months old," Clark says. "Our calves are healthier and doing much better in the plastic hutches we purchased in February 1998. Now we wean at five to six weeks of age and have no problem with it. Our calves are much bigger." Adds Corbett: "Now, they are weaning calves based on dry matter intake, and age has nothing to do with it."

After weaning, calves stay in the hutches for a couple of weeks to ease sucking problems and to ensure adequate dry matter intake. Usually, they're eating a bucketful of grain, or about 6 lb. of starter, when they're moved to the "calf colony" - a simple three sided, half-shaded structure with waterers, a hard-pack floor and 4' cement feedbunk apron.

Here the heifers get a 17% protein total mixed ration (TMR) with 10% hay. As the heifers get older, the precentage of forage goes up. At wix months, they're also getting a half-pound per day of a rumen microbial growth enhancer. The Bowns feed the TMR every two to three days and encourage intakes by pushing it up twice a day.

Free-choice water helps the calves eat more dry matter. The Bowns weren't giving calves water during the winter months because it froze. Corbett convinced them that feed intake would go up with free-choice water and it did. "It's like eating a peanut butter sandwich without milk" Corbett says. "You need something to wash it down." The Bowns have found calves in hutches will drink up to 4 gal. of water a day. Sometimes, the calves drink even more in winter. They place water buckets inside the hutches and let the calfs body heat help keep the water from freezing. Heifers lagging behind herdmates are culled at 300 lb. to 400 lb. The Bowns don't mess around with small, unthrifty animals. They sell them and pocket a little profit. Culling also helps make a group of heifers more uniform.

Overall, the Bowns are quite happy with how their heifers look and perform today. "We used to think we were saving money by not pushing grain and hay." Clark says. "But, it was costing us by not getting cows sooner into the milking string. Now we understand the importance of dry-matter intake in calves and we can monitor it."