Forage storage and management

By Meghan Gebhardt, Silostop regional manager
Each year, silo plastics help preserve quality silage, however, it also creates several thousand pounds of waste.  Luckily, other options to limit plastic waste are growing in popularity.

By Dr. Michelle Der Bedrosian, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical specialist
Gas production during fermentation is normal and it will occur for roughly a week after a silo is sealed.  While most gases are harmless, others are deadly.
 

By Dr. Damon Smith, University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor and extension specialist 
Tar spot has hit the Midwest heavy and hard.  Researchers are doing everything they can to understand this relatively new corn disease and how it will affect yields and quality.

By Dr. Michelle Der Bedrosian, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical specialist
Silage runoff occurs when you ensile silage at higher-than-ideal moisture levels, and runoff is not a good thing.  When you see runoff, your ensiled crop is losing valuable nutrients, along with overall silage quality.

By Dr. Michelle Der Bedrosian, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical specialist
Ensiling unique forage byproducts has been practiced for thousands of years.  While it is more common in other parts of the world, it may become more common in the Midwest as producers look to save money.

While we do our best to put up high-quality forage each year, sometimes Mother Nature has other plans.  What is your strategy when disaster strikes your forage bags?

By Kyle Taysom, Dairyland Laboratories, Inc.
Forage minerals can have many impacts on animal health and production.  Although minerals are relatively inexpensive to supplement, failing to account for the variation of minerals within forages can lead to substantial over- or underfeeding.

By Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical specialist
Moving and re-ensiling silage is never ideal because it exposes the silage to oxygen and predisposes the feed to spoilage.  However, you can minimize the impact of this practice with a few preventative steps.

By John Grabber, USDA ARS research agronomist
Alfalfa has typically been replaced in rotations with corn, partly due to the greater dry matter yield.  However, new research has found interseeding alfalfa into corn can jumpstart production of alfalfa the following year and increase yields.

By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist
It can be frustrating when you feel like you did everything correctly to put up quality forages and then the fermentation analysis shows a volatile fatty acid profile that is far from perfect.  In this particular case, the producer had unusually high acetic acid levels and we sought an answer. 

By Dr. Luiz Ferraretto, University of Florida assistant professor
While ensiling has been a well-established tool to store forages without compromising nutrient availability, recent research trials have reported some alterations in the nutritive value of silage occur with extended storage length.

By Dr. Michelle Windle, Vita Plus forage products and dairy technical specialist
While the sealed silo may look peaceful during storage, the bacteria in the silo are hard at work making high-quality feed.  In fact, research has shown length of storage has a bigger impact on starch digestibility than kernel processing.

By Jon Rasmussen, Vita Plus dairy technology specialist
This is an important question to consider and you can answer it in many different ways.  Regardless of how you answer the question, it is important to periodically take inventory of your forages throughout the year to help make several high-value decisions.

By Pat Hoffman, Vita Plus dairy technical specialist
This past summer at Vita Plus, we evaluated a new ration formulation sub-model that accounts for the rumen unsaturated fatty acid load (RUFAL) in the ration.  Research has demonstrated that feeding dairy cows excessive levels of RUFALs has a negative effect on milk fat test.  In fact, in our summer project, more than 50 percent of the variance in milk fat percent across herds could be explained by accessible RUFAL concentrations in the diet. 

By Bryan Knoper, Vita Plus dairy specialist
Do you know the value of your stored forages? 

At the farm level, it is worth more than the cost to build another freestall barn.  At the cow level, it is realized in the fluctuation of her milk production when you switch forages.

By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist
When we consider a technology that promises better forage quality, we often ask, “What does it cost?” 

In reality, a better question would be “How much does it save?”

Weighing the option to use oxygen barrier plastic under conventional plastic is a great example of that scenario.