Attaining a high silage density is important for two primary reasons. Most importantly, density and dry matter content determine the porosity of the silage. Porosity, in turn, sets the rate at which air moves into the silo and subsequently the amount of spoilage which occurs during storage and feed-out. Ruppel (1992) measured dry matter loss […]
Silage fermentation is the conversion of plant sugars to acids by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). This process drops the pH, stabilizing and preserving the forage, in effect, “pickling” the forage. Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) and Fermentation, What Happens? The LAB population needs to be 100 trillion/ton of crop before pH will start to decline in […]
In the months ahead a lot of time and money will be poured into harvesting the crops you’ve spent the entire growing season caring for. Decisions made last winter on seed, fertilizer, rotations etc. can be either lost or won during harvest and storage. To ensure all that effort and investment produces a nutrient rich […]
