Lallemand: Cold Wet Fall Means Mold Corn For HMC & Corn Silage
11/06/2009 12:59PM
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With the cold wet harvest season, producers are having a hard time getting corn out of the field for silage and high moisture corn. In addition, this corn has the potential to introduce mycotoxins into the ration.
Here are some suggestions and recommendations on handling moldy corn.
Propionic acid MUST be used at the recommended rate for the job. With the moisture levels in some of the crops we are seeing, this could mean 4, 6, 8 or even more lb of propionic acid per ton. This is very expensive, and most producers will be tempted to cut the rate, WHICH COULD HAVE REALLY DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES ! See the attached Tech Note (click here) from BASF about how sub-recommended rates of application can actually stimulate mycotoxin production.
Trials with Biotal Buchneri 500 at UF-Gainesville, presented at ADSA this year, on very moldy (rust infested) corn showed that Biotal Buchneri 500 can be very effective even on very moldy material (see attached abstract and posterette). This study demonstrated how effective Buchneri 500 can really be. I believe that in these situations it is vital to use the Biotal Buchneri 500 rather than the "straight" Biotal Buchneri 40788. The reason being that the molds can continue to proliferate in the silage as long as there is oxygen available, and the L. buchneri 40788 takes time to get going and do its job. The P. pentosaceus 12455 however, grows rapidly in the presence of oxygen, scavenging the available supply and preventing the slower-growing mold for dominating. Once all the oxygen is gone, the P. pentosaceus then switches to anaerobic fermentation, rapidly acidifying the silage and preventing other “nasties” from growing. Then along comes the L. buchneri 40788, producing acetic acid and propanediol (which converts to prop acid), very efficiently from lactic acid, killing off the yeasts and molds.
The application rates (400,000 CFU/ g for silage and 600,000 CFU/ g for HMC) must not be undercut. In addition, Biotal Buchneri 40788 is the ONLY inoculant FDA reviewed for “increased aerobic stability of silage and high moisture corn stored for not less than 60 days.” The inoculation rate is critical !
Producers should also keep an eye out for possible toxin effects when feeding, maybe even use a good mycotoxin binder pre-emptively, since most of the mycotoxins come in from the field and some are very recalcitrant (i.e. they may not be reduced through the ensiling process, e.g. zearalenone).
Just remember that the molds are not the first problem to occur at feed-out. The yeasts start the aerobic deterioration, so keeping the pH of the silage low (effect of acetic acid) will be the key ! Biotal Buchneri 500 is designed to speed up fermentation at ensiling and improving aerobic stability at feedout – helping keep molds and mycotoxins in check. Quality feed produces quality milk and healthier cows.