Inoculants Help Preserve Feed Quality All The Way To The Bunk

Mar 26, 2014

An upward trend in milk and beef prices may have growers putting more emphasis on feed value and the importance of inoculants to help preserve the amount and quality of stored forages.

"Dry-matter recovery is important because feed is still relatively expensive," says Bill Ramsey, DuPont Pioneer livestock information manager. "To maximize the value of their forage investment, many producers are also working with nutritionists and agronomic consultants on plans to prevent dry-matter loss in stored forages."

Managing pH immediately after harvest is the key to forage preservation.

"Dry-matter loss begins with plant-cell respiration and aerobic bacteria utilizing plant sugars, water and carbs as an energy source, literally consuming nutrients and feed," Ramsey says. "A quick drop in pH and a fast start to fermentation preserves silage, maintains a high level of silage quality and results in decreased fermentation losses."

To accurately estimate the overall value of inoculants on feed, producers can use the Pioneer Inoculant Value Calculator to gain a "hands on" look at how inoculants can make an economic difference on their operations through improved feed bunk life and increased feed cost savings.

Utilizing 27 years of research data to quantify the value of inoculants to preserve dry matter, the easy-to-use online tool enables growers to evaluate 10 variables, including the crop, storage system, feeding rates and market prices. Growers can access the calculator on the Pioneer.com website or in the app from the Apple® iTunes® store.

Inoculants have two primary functions in preserving forages. The first priority is to spark a fast and efficient pH drop of the silage as soon as it is stored. The second is to help suppress spoilage yeast, mold and bacillus for improved aerobic stability. DuPont Pioneer also has a silage inoculants with a third mode of action that improves fiber digestibility and increases fermentation and aerobic stability.

Source:pioneer.com

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.