Did you know that 1st crop and spring cereal silages can be your best feed assets on the farm? Aside from the tonnage advantage, the cooler growing conditions allow the plants to lignify less than they would in hotter months. While these feeds can add benefits like digestible fiber to a diet, I often hear trepidation from producers about how they have troubles ensiling clean, well-feeding spring silages.
Clostridial Silage can cause dry matter losses, energy loss, decrease intakes and cause metabolic problems in your transition cattle. Clostridia bacteria can get onto feed from lodged material, rain splash during wilting, or from aggressive harvesting in the field. Before you get into the fields, check your mower height to avoid bringing in excess ash and dirt from the field. Forages with high ash can buffer the ensiling process and keep the pH at an undesirable level. Correct moisture at harvesting will also deter a bad fermentation; wet feeds have a higher likelihood of a clostridial occurrence.
Another way to ensure feed stability would be the use of a good Inoculant to help shorten the time it takes for feed to reach a stable pH (under 4.6) and promote a good population of lactic acid bacteria. Once ensiled, ensure your feed face is clean and that you can feed off that surface at a rate where feed is fresh and cool daily. If you find yourself in a butyric feed situation, try laying the feedstuff where it can respirate overnight. Exposing butyric feed to oxygen the night before feeding can volatilize butyric by up to 50%. These are just a few ways to ensure you get the most nutrition out of your silages and the most profitability from your animals. For more information and resources on silage additives and clean feeding, contact your local Insight FS Animal Nutrition representative. Happy Harvesting!