Five reasons to preserve maize silage

Weather conditions in 2024 have negatively impacted on grass growth and winter fodder stocks, leading to concerns about both quantity and quality of forage this winter. Given these challenges, it is more crucial than ever for farmers to minimize losses and protect the nutritional value of their maize silage and ensuring livestock performance from the maize silage.

1. Because maize can be a breeding ground for ‘bad bugs’

Dying or dead tissue in maize crops at harvest provides a haven for undesirable micro-organisms. As too does dirt and decomposing crop debris that accumulate in the plant’s leaf joints, while the stem base can be a ‘hot spot’ for mould spores.

These are in addition to maize diseases – such as eyespot and smut. And all these ‘bad bugs’ end up in the clamp, where some of them can play havoc with how well maize is preserved.

2. Because lost maize dry matter doesn’t just affect silage quantity – but quality too

Unfortunately, ‘bad bugs’ growing in the clamp don’t just ‘feed on’ the worst bits of the maize silage, such as the fibre. They take the best bits. So, by allowing them to take hold, it’s not just dry matter (DM) that’s lost, but the more nutritious parts of the dry matter – the sugars and starches.

Worse still, fungal contamination can also make maize silage less palatable so cows reject it, and can cause problems with mycotoxins.

3. Because maize can suffer invisible losses – not just obvious losses from visible yeasts and moulds

Most of us are familiar with losses from yeasts and moulds growing in the silage in the presence of air, resulting in heating. But this is only part of the story. Poor fermentation caused by the wrong types of bacteria in the clamp can also cause similar losses in dry matter. But these are invisible.

Between these two processes, typical maize dry matter losses can be around 15%. But they can be much higher – at 20 or even 30%.

4. To improve sustainability

Home-grown forage and silage are excellent sustainable feed sources.

By doing the best job of preserving maize silage, not only do you have potentially more silage available to feed but also potentially of better quality. This, in turn, means less reliance on bought-in concentrate, allowing financial savings, and can even reduce feed miles.

You can’t prevent ‘bad bugs’ growing on maize crops, but you can take better control of them at ensiling – using the beneficial bacteria in a proven additive to produce clamp conditions that stop them in their tracks.

First Published 10 September 2024