Silo-Guard for corn silage

Two corn silages (34 to 36% DM) were made August 4 and 5, 1976; one was ensiled without additive (control), the other with Silo-Guard added at 1.5 lbs. per ton of fresh crop. Silos were opened after 68 days, and each silage was full-fed to 15 yearling steers (3 pens of 5 steers) during a 91-day trial (October 12, 1976, to January 11, 1977). Complete-mixed rations contained 84% silage and 16% soybean meal supplement on a DM basis

Silo-Guard for forage sorghum silage

Two forage sorghum silages (29 to 30% DM) were made October 1 to 3, 1978; one ensiled without additive (control), the other with 1.5 lbs. of Silo-Guard added per ton of fresh crop. Silos were opened after 36 days, and each was full-fed to 15 yearling steers (3 pens of 5 steers) during a 90-day trial (November 9, 1978, to February 7, 1979). Rations contained 84% silage and 16% soybean meal supplement on a DM basis

Silage additive update: 1984

Numerous commercial silage additives, whose manufacturers claim will improve silage quality, are available to Kansas farmers and ranchers. We believe that these claims must ultimately be documented with farm-scale research. To date, Manhattan and Ft. Hays farm-scale silo results clearly indicate that a few silage additives do improve silage quality and are cost-effective. Several of them have consistently reduced in silo losses. But results probably will not be favorable with all additives under every farm condition. Nor will research results obtained with one commercial product in our trials also apply to other products on the market, however similar in ingredient formulation

High-moisture or dry corn, roughage sources, and protein supplements for short-fed finishing steers

Dry corn, stave ensiled high-moisture corn (HMC), stave ensiled HMC treated with urea, and Harvestore ensiled HMC were evaluated in a steer finishing trial. Alfalfa hay and corn silage were the roughages and soybean meal or urea, the nitrogen sources. There were no differences in steer performance for corn treatments, but steer performance was significantly improved when alfalfa hay rather than corn silage was the roughage. Urea supplements significantly depressed steer performance compared with soybean meal additions; a combination of urea and soybean meal gave intermediate performance

CULBAC® and ADD-F® (formic acid) additives for sudangrass and high moisture shelled corn silages

Laboratory silos were used in three trials to evaluate sudangrass (slightly or moderately wilted) and high moisture corn silages, each receiving the following treatments: (1) control (no additive); (2) CULBAC® dry; (3) CULBAC® liquid; and (4) ADD-F® (formic acid). Although the 12 silages were well preserved visually, there were differences in their chemical compositions. Silages treated with CULBAC dry had the highest DM recoveries and probably the most efficient fermentations. As expected, formic acid restricted the amount of fermentation, but surprisingly, it did not improve DM recovery

Cold-flo, Sila-bac, and Silo-Best for corn silage

Four corn silages (41 to 46% DM) were made August 23 to 26, 1978; treatments were: 1) no additive (control), 2) 8.16 lbs of Cold-flo ammonia per ton, 3) 1.0 lb of Sila-bac per ton, and 4) 1.0 lb of Silo-Best per ton. Silos were opened after 139 days and each was full-fed to 15 heifer calves (3 pens of 5 calves) during a 112-day trial (January 12 to May 4, 1979). The complete-mixed rations contained 88% silage and 12% supplement (Table 19.1). Control silage was supplemented with soybean meal for one group of heifers and urea for another group (urea supplying 33% of the total ration crude protein equivalent). The Cold-flo silage was fed with a milo supplement with no additional crude protein added. Sila-bac and Silo-Best silages were supplemented with soybean meal

Wheat, barley, oat and corn silage rations for growing steers

Eleven wheat, barley, oat and corn silages were evaluated in two steers growing trials in 1975 and 1976. In both trials, steers fed barley or corn silages had similar rate and efficiency of gains. Also, barley and corn silages supported greater performance than any of the seven wheat or oat silages. In the 1976 trial steers fed Trio or Lodi oat silage had the lowest feed consumption and made the slowest and least efficient gains. For an average of the two trials barley and corn silages had similar feeding values. Wheat silages had 90 and 80% the relative feeding value of corn silage in 1975 and 1976, respectively. Oat silages had only 48% the feeding value of corn silage in 1976

Urea and Fermentrol® additives for forage sorghum silage

Adding urea to forage sorghum greatly increased the ensiling temperature, produced a more rapid and extensive fermentation, and resulted in more shrink loss in the silo. Fermentrol®, an enzyme-inoculant additive, had very little affect on the silage temperature or chemical composition, but it did reduce the shrink loss. Calves red urea-treated silage had the poorest performance. Control and Fermentrol® silages each produced about 90 lb of calf gain per ton of crop ensiled, however urea silage produced only 60 lb. All three silages had short bunk lives throughout the trial

Effects of hybrid maturity and growth stage on yield and composition of forage and grain sorghums when harvested as silage

Thirteen sorghum hybrids chosen to represent a range of sorghum types were evaluated in two separate trials. Each was harvested at three stages of grain development: milk to early-dough, late-dough, and hard-grain. Among the forage sorghums, there was a 26-day range in days to half bloom from early to late maturing varieties. Harvest date did not affect crude protein content. However, whole-plant DM yield was significantly lower at the last harvest for the three latest maturing varieties. Grain yield increased over time in the early and intermediate hybrids. Lodging increased significantly over time for all varieties except DeKalb FS-25E. Among the grain sorghums, there was only a 4-day range in days to half bloom and very little difference in plant height. The forage sorghum was later maturing and taller. Whole-plant DM yields for the grain sorghums were highest at late-dough. Grain yields and grain to forage ratios generally increased with maturity, except when there were losses due to birds. Grain sorghums started to lodge by the hard-grain stage

Effect of enzyme and inoculant additives on preservation and feeding value of wheat and forage sorghum silages

Enzyme and inoculant additives produced more efficiently preserved wheat and forage sorghum silages and improved their feeding value. In general, treated silages had lower pH, acetic acid, and ammonia-nitrogen values and higher lactic acid and lactic to acetic acid ratios than untreated silages. In two of the three trials, cell wall and acid detergent fiber fractions were lower in treated than untreated silages. In Trial 2, the treated sorghum silages were extremely unstable in air and cattle performance was similar for control and treated silages. In Trial 3, gains and feed conversions in steers were improved for those fed treated forage sorghum silages