Inoculants with L. hilgardii provide more flexibility in feedout timing

By Renato Schmidt, Ph.D., Lallemand Animal Nutrition technical services-forage
Ensiled forages represent a fundamental and increasingly more expensive portion of rations for dairy and beef cattle.  The nutritional and hygienic characteristics of the silage directly impact animal performance and wellbeing.  Quality forage inoculants can be used to control the fermentation and quality of forages, as well as enhance the overall value at feedout.

The newly introduced MAGNIVA^® Platinum inoculant contains three lactic acid-bacteria strains:  Pediococcus pentosaceus NCIMB 12455, Lactobacillus buchneri NCIMB 40788 and the recently patented Lentilactobacillus hilgardii CNCM I-4785. MAGNIVA Platinum also includes a high-activity enzyme package.

MAGNIVA Platinum can be used on all ensiled forages that need to be fed as soon as 15 days; ensiled crops that will be transported or relocated; silages to be fed during warm temperatures; high moisture corn, earlage, and snaplage; or crops exposed to challenging growing or field conditions that result in high spoilage yeast and mold counts.

Feedout flexibility matters
Managing silage inventories can be a challenge.  The strategy may change from week to week and, sometimes, shortages and additional costs can’t be avoided.  L. hilgardii CNCM I-4785 works in synergy with the other strains and the enzyme package to improve feedout stability of the silage faster as well as maximize stability for longer-stored silages.  The combination strains found in MAGNIVA Platinum work together to provide dominant fermentation and improve aerobic stability in a shorter timeframe, offering more feedout flexibility.  This means producers can open the treated silage in just 15 days, helping to manage long-term feed costs and increase operational profitability.

Table 1. The aerobic stability and DM recovery of corn silages after 20 days of storage (average of three different DM contents) (da Silva et al., 2022).

Treatment	Aerobic stability (h)	DM recovery (%)
Control	37	94.1
MAGNIVA Platinum	66	95.8
P-value	<0.01	<0.01

Figure 1. Temperature curves of 10-day-ensiled high moisture corn after exposure to air (da Silva et al., 2020).

Proven results
MAGNIVA Platinum is supported by extensive data from the University of Delaware, University of Florida, Lallemand Center of Excellence located at the Miner Institute in Chazy, New York, and Lethbridge Research Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.  MAGNIVA Platinum is the culmination of more than a decade’s worth of research and development, including validation on a variety of crops in independent trials globally.

This product is available in the U.S. market for the 2023 forage season.  Learn more about MAGNIVA Platinum and contact your Vita Plus consultant to book your forage inoculants today.