Inoculant mythbusters: Clearing the smoke and mirrors – Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus

Posted on January 25, 2018 in Forage Foundations
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By Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical specialist
Each year, inoculant companies and their representatives vie for your business.  Decisions should be based on proven facts rather than marketing, smoke and mirrors.  To help, we'd like to share some myths we've heard as well as some scientific responses to help "clear the smoke."

Regional report: Corn silage harvest – Andy Carlson, Jerry Ruetten, Jon Rasmussen and Mark Case, Vita Plus

Posted on September 25, 2017 in Forage Foundations
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Corn silage harvest is in full gear across most of the Midwest!  As you get a few minutes out of the fields, check to see how harvest has been going in your area.

10 maintenance steps to keep your applicator flowing – Dwain Ewald, Vita Plus

Posted on January 26, 2017 in Forage Foundations
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Editor’s note:  In addition to multiple customer service responsibilities at Vita Plus Gagetown in Gagetown, Michigan, Dwain Ewald takes the lead on maintenance services for customers’ forage inoculant applicators. 

By Dwain Ewald, Vita Plus Gagetown customer service
With cold temperatures and piles of snow on the ground, it’s sometimes hard to think about and prepare for the upcoming forage season.  However, doing a little maintenance now can save a lot of time when things get rolling in the spring.  In this article, I will focus on the maintenance of the DE-1000 and DE-1008.5 forage inoculant applicator units manufactured by Dohrmann Enterprises, Inc.  Maintenance steps are similar for both machines.

5 must-haves in your forage inoculant – Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus

Posted on January 26, 2017 in Forage Foundations
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By Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical service specialist
Dairy cows are fed silage all year-round.  This means selecting the right inoculant for your operation has the potential to impact the farm’s bottom line on many fronts.  With the inoculant market becoming flooded with so many different choices, it's getting harder to decide which inoculant is right for your needs.   A good inoculant should meet certain qualifications before being considered for use on a farm.  These qualifications include the following...

Q&A: Applicator preparation and troubleshooting – Mark Case and Dwain Ewald, Vita Plus

Posted on July 29, 2016 in Forage Foundations

Mark Case is a Vita Plus dairy specialist in western Michigan and Dwain Ewald is a customer service specialist with Vita Plus Gagetown. Case and Ewald work closely with producers to troubleshoot and maintain their inoculant applicators and also support their other forage needs.

Video – Inoculant applicators: Keep the bugs alive!

Posted on July 30, 2015 in Forage Foundations
 In this video, Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical service specialist, details strategies to keep inoculant bacteria alive. A few common-sense strategies can significantly protect the effectiveness of inoculants and make the most of your investment. Visit our YouTube channel for more helpful tips.

Video – Inoculant applicators: Cleaning and maintenance

Posted on July 30, 2015 in Forage Foundations
 In this video, Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist, explains the simple steps of cleaning and maintaining your inoculant applicator. Taking a few minutes to clean applicators can prevent major downtime when you're chopping. Visit our YouTube channel for more helpful tips.

Applicator troubleshooting mystery: An elusive solution

Posted on July 30, 2015 in Forage Foundations
By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist "Help!  My applicator isn't putting out what it should!" Most everyone who works with forage applicators has heard that plea.  The solution is usually a simple matter of replacing the flexible pump tube on the Dohrmann DE applicators.  However, things were different this time when I received

Inoculant strategies for corn silage, high moisture corn and snaplage

Posted on July 30, 2015 in Forage Foundations
By Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical services specialist The majority of dry matter (DM) losses occur during the front end ensiling process (as the pH drops) and during the back end (after exposure to oxygen when lactate-assimilating spoilage yeasts flourish). Spoilage yeasts are especially prevalent in feeds rich in starch,

Choosing an inoculant 101 (Dr. Michelle Windle)

Posted on September 4, 2014 in Forage Foundations
By Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus forage products & dairy technical service specialist Most producers are aware that inoculants can help minimize shrink, avoid heating, and improve forage quality, animal health, and performance.  Left untreated, naturally occurring microorganisms on plants in the field drive fermentation.  Inoculants offer a tool to control this fermentation. It’s tempting

HMSC: Don’t forget the H (Jon Urness)

Posted on September 4, 2014 in Forage Foundations
By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist Dairy producers have successfully harvested, stored and fed high moisture corn for many years. By now, most have the routine down pat. But when things go wrong, it’s often the lack of high moisture that causes problems.  Naturally, too much moisture can be a challenge as well,

Hitting the numbers this corn silage season (Jon Urness)

Posted on August 4, 2014 in Forage Foundations
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By Jon Urness, national forage specialist Getting it right when it comes to corn silage harvest and storage has become more and more critical as it’s often the dominant forage in today’s dairy rations.  And you get just one chance.  You don't get any “do-overs” or “mulligans” when it comes to putting up a year’s

Battling clostridial bacteria with wet forages (Chris Wacek-Driver)

Posted on April 21, 2014 in Forage Foundations
Chris Wacek-Driver, Vita Plus forage program manager Alfalfa is a particularly challenging crop to ensile due to naturally occurring compounds (primarily acids and proteins) that effectively buffer the crop.  Practically speaking, this means it takes more acid - and thus more sugar - to reach the correct pH endpoint.  At moistures of 65 percent or

Inoculant applicators: Cleaning and mixing 101 (Vita Plus Forage Team)

Posted on April 21, 2014 in Forage Foundations
Vita Plus Forage Team Winter 2014 seemed like it would never end.  Inevitably, that means that the upcoming planting and haylage season will fly by all too quickly.  As you wait out the last days of cool temperatures and wet fields, take a few minutes to clean up your applicators and review inoculant mixing procedures. 

Caution: Don’t kill your bugs! (Dr. Michelle Windle)

Posted on April 21, 2014 in Forage Foundations
Are we pasteurizing the bugs in inoculant tank mixes?  That was the question Dr. Owen Mickley, Vita Plus dairy specialist, posed during the heat of last year's corn silage harvest in central Ohio. Just a couple weeks earlier, Mickley hosted a custom harvester meeting for about a dozen chopper operators. The subject of inoculant tank

Basic applicator maintenance

Posted on January 9, 2014 in Forage Foundations
 A half-hour in the shop on a cold winter day could prevent big trouble and delay next summer when you’ve got trucks lined up, packing tractors fueled, and forage that’s ready to harvest…NOW! Many forage chopper owners take advantage of the inoculant applicator technology offered by Dohrmann Enterprises, Inc., specifically the DE-1000 and DE-1010