What is the silage?
Silage is a fermented feed.
Silage is a high moisture crops stored under anaerobic conditions in a silo, silage bales or silage storage drums.
Farmers use the silage to feed their domestic animals, especially during the dry season.
Biozone offers enzyme blend SILAGE PRO. An Effective and research proven silage inoculant.
The SILAGE PRO-BFB silage inoculant is a kind of forage preserved by anaerobic fermentation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which transfer water soluble carbohydrate to lactic acid and decrease the pH value to inhibit contaminated bacteria’s growth. Its active ingredients have been developed by Indian Biotechnology company (PRIONS BIOTECH). This formulation contains encapsulated organisms that digest, organic matter and a digestive enzymes substance that also has been made by microorganisms. It has low epiphytic LAB and high protein content that causes natural ensiling difficult; therefore, it is very important to apply appropriate amount and optimal species of LAB before ensiling. Many influencing factors result in the failure of silage production; in particular, forage losses in silage without added inoculants amount to 10–20%. The addition of a plant-specific inoculant is an economical and effective method for the improvement of silage quality.
The SILAGEPRO-BFB is produced through the Probiotic Optimizing Development System, which strictly selects appropriate Lactobacillus strains with properties such as rapid acid production, inhibition of mold/yeast fermentation, and prevention of heat generation in forage. It can be used in forages with different dry matter contents and nutrient compositions, and is able to minimize losses due to secondary fermentation, increases the rate of acid production after opening a silage, and increase storage capacity. With the use of the SILAGE PRO-BFB Silage, forage losses are effectively reduced to less than 5%, and silage intake by cattle is significantly increased.
BENEFITS OF SILAGE PRO
- Increase digestibility of silage dry matter and fiber.
- Increase aerobic stability of silage.
- Improve efficiency of silage fermentation
- Increase forage palatability and feed intake.
- Reduce silo temperature and the loss of nutrients.
- Reduces dry matter loss. Improves nutrient value.
- Keep silage stable for a long time after opening.
- Reduce silage pH.
APPLICATION
Whole plant corn, alfalfa, pangola grass, nile grass, and other forages for silage or haylage
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAY AND SILAGE.
- Hay is a former grass dried to use as animal fodder. Silage is a fermented forage, stored in a silo before used as food.
- Hay usually has a moisture content of 12%, whereas silage moisture content is between 40-60%.
- Hay is mowed, dried and stored in bales. Silage crop is compacted and stored in air-tight conditions.
- Hay has low palatability. Silage feed is partially and easily digested, offering more nutritious value.
HOW TO MAKE QUALITY SILAGE
Harvest the fresh fodder when on its the highest nutrient levels. The seed of forage sorghum or maize should be soft but not milky when you squeeze it open. Napier grass needs to be about a metre high. Legumes should have young pods which are not dry.
Too much water in the forage can spoil the silage. Wet forage should be kept under the sun for few hours to wilt.
Chopping and bagging area or silage pit must be clean, metallic & polythene free and ready for the forage.
Squeezing, Cutting & shredding the forage to 2cm – 5cm are perfect and ideal size for silage and consistency of crops for ensiling, ensuring proper fermentation and preservation of nutrients.
Use silage pro-bfb to inoculate the silage to improve silage quality while obtaining a more sustainable production based on natural solutions. Silage pro -bfb keeps silage stable after opening the bunker when it is exposed to oxygen.
Ensure proper compaction whether silage pit, silage bag or silage bale is being made. Seal the silage material and make sure the silo is air tight.
SILAGE ENSILING PROCESS
Aerobic phase. Takes only a few hours after compacting and sealing the silo to air tight – the atmospheric oxygen present between the plant particles is reduced, due to the respiration of the plant material and aerobic and facultative aerobic micro-organisms such as yeasts and enterobacteria. pH is still within the normal range for fresh forage juice (pH 6.5-6.0). Plant enzymes such as proteases and carbohydrates are active during this phase.
Fermentation phase starts when the silage becomes anaerobic (once all of the oxygen is used up). Fermentation phase takes several days or even several weeks, depending on the properties of the ensiled forage crop and the ensiling conditions. lactic acid bacteria (LAB) start to multiply and become the predominant population. LAB are the bacteria that are needed to make the silage. They play a key role in turning the plant sugars into lactic acid causing the pH to drop (mixture becomes more acidic). Once the pH is around 4-5, the sugars stop breaking down and the grass is preserved until the silage is opened and exposed to oxygen.
Stable phase. Silage achieves this phase if it was well compacted and sealed to air tight. fermentation micro-organisms slowly decrease in numbers Only some acid-tolerant proteases and carbohydrases and some specialized micro-organisms, such as Lactobacillus buchneri, continue to be active. Some acid-tolerant micro-organisms survive this period in an almost inactive state. Others, such as clostridia and bacilli, survive as spores.
Feed-out phase starts as soon as the silo is opened exposing the silage to air. This will cause a rise in pH. After opening spoilage by air ingress can only be minimized by a sufficiently high feed-out rate. In addition, silage additives capable of decreasing spoilage losses can be applied at the time of ensiling.
GET YOUR SILAGE PRO BFB
SILAGE INOCULANTS
silage inoculants are Bacteria, Enzymes, addictive’s, Preservatives or organic acids added to the forage during silage preparation to improve fermentation, to fasten pH drop thus reducing DM losses, protein breakdown and growth of undesirable microorganisms. This ensures that valuable dry matter, energy and protein are Preserved. Thus, preservation of the silage quality.
purpose of inoculating and ensiling forages is to preserve their nutritional value and palatability while reducing organic dry matter losses.
BENEFITS OF SILAGE INOCULANTS
- Fast pH reduction
- Stability throughout the feed-out period
- Dry matter recovery improvement – less shrinkage
- Reduction of protein degradation and ammonia production.
- Keep silage stable for a long time after opening.
- Reduce the risk of mycotoxin contamination
NOTE; If the pH isn’t low enough, a different kind of bacteria will start fermenting the silage, producing by-products (like ammonia) that taste bad to cows and sheep. Thus, LOW PH OF 5 should be maintained.
NOTE; With oxygen plant enzymes and other bacteria react with the plant sugars and proteins to make energy, thus reducing the amount of nutrients in the final product therefore the silage silos should be completely air tight.