Maine Farmcast Episode 19: Best Management Practices for Harvesting Corn Silage with Dr. Juan Romero
On this episode of the Maine Farmcast, Dr. Glenda Pereira and Dr. Colt Knight have a conversation with University of Maine professor Dr. Juan Romero about best management practices for harvesting corn silage. Dr. Romero is an Associate Professor of Animal Nutrition and conducts research on: forage quality and conservation, ruminant nutrition, and PFAS. He also teaches forage science and range management as well as animal nutrition within the School of Food and Agriculture. You can reach him at juan.romero@maine.edu or 207.581.2925.
Episode Resources
- Learn more about Dr. Juan Romero and his lab.
- Learn more about the research Dr. Romero conducted with inoculant Lactobacillus buchneri.
- Learn more about Forage Conservation: Troubleshooting Hay and Silage Production.
Automated Transcript
Colt Knight: 00:31
Welcome to the Maine Farmcast. I am your co-host today, Dr. Colt Knight, associate extension professor and state livestock specialist for Cooperative Extension. And I am joined
Glenda Pereira: 00:42
by your other co-host. You never actually hear us together on the podcast, so this is a treat for our listeners. But this is Glenda Pereira, one of your co-hosts, and I’m the dairy specialist, and an assistant extension professor as well as an assistant professor within the School of Food and Ag, here at the University of Maine. And today, we are, joined, by a colleague of ours, so a colleague that works within our livestock team here at the University of Maine, Dr. Juan Romero. So, Dr. Juan Romero, we’re talking about corn silage today and harvest, best management strategies for harvest.
Glenda Pereira: 01:24
So before we started recording, we had mentioned how, you kind of have a unique background where you were never a student that wanted to go into the pre-vet track like Colt and I, and I think we we talked about that some. You wanted to always be an animal scientist.
Juan Romero: 01:43
Yes. Hello to your audience, and thanks for having me in your show. So, yeah, that’s correct. So when, I was finishing high school, I was deciding what to study. Believe it or not, you know, my top careers were I was between law school, medicine, and animal sciences, but because my my grandfather was a dairyman, so then I decided to follow the animal science path.
Juan Romero: 02:10
So, and, yeah, so never, crossed my mind to do veterinary medicine because I was, like, thinking, like, oh, well, if I’m going to study medicine, better study human medicine. Right. Right? So, and then I decided to to basically be an animal scientist because I wanted to do that production part, that was always what attracted me, you know, like, the, let’s say, the business part of things, you know, of animal production. So, and I got an early interest in nutrition, so, and always have, you know, my focus was on dairy animals.
Juan Romero: 02:47
Yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah.
Glenda Pereira: 02:50
And both your parents were scientists?
Juan Romero: 02:53
Yes. My both my parents were, faculty professors, and they they basically are, cereal breeders. So they work with barley, wheat, oats, and also some pseudo cereals like quinoa and and kiwicha. And quinoa is actually quite popular now. So, my father got his master’s at Nebraska State, University of Nebraska Lincoln, and my mother in Oregon State University.
Juan Romero: 03:20
So actually when they were younger, they got to work with, Norman Borlaug, the Norman Borlaug. Right? So in Texcoco in Mexico. So, yes. And that that basically is the background of my family.
Juan Romero: 03:36
Right? So they were doing, breeding for the, brewing companies in Peru, so that was was sustaining their research program. So, in Peru, basically cereals, small grains, they’re used especially in the highlands where the land is not good enough for growing potatoes or corn. So potatoes actually are from Peru, so from that area of the world. So but there are parts where the soil is not good enough for potatoes, and that’s where you will use small grains.
Juan Romero: 04:03
Kind of like here, too. Right?
Glenda Pereira: 04:05
Right. Yeah. And so, that that’s really unique, and thank you for sharing that because it it kind of helped influence you in the career that you’re in today. Right? So you’re an associate professor of of dairy nutrition here at the University of Maine, and some of your work, or most of your work has for focused on forage, in in dairy nutrition management.
Glenda Pereira: 04:27
So for our topic today, we’re talking we’re going into the harvest season, and, you you’ve had a lot of experience and even some applied experience working, with corn silage, haylage, baleage all of the, conservation method methods of forage. And and for today, specifically, we’re gonna we’re gonna, kind of keep, keep keep, you know, our listeners with the thought of what do I need to think about in order to harvest and store the best forage? Because once it’s stored and harvested, there’s there’s kind of, you you know, a few things that we can do before we feed it out to the animal. Right?
Juan Romero: 05:11
Yep. Yes. So, there are some three points I would like to emphasize. So about corn silage production. Right?
Juan Romero: 05:19
So it’s the dry matter I harvest, so it’s very important, so the use of inoculants, so how to decide how to use them, and also how to maximize the starch availability from that corn crop.
Glenda Pereira: 05:32
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, starting at the top, when we’re out in the field and harvesting, what what can we do when when people are bringing, you know, whether it’s corn silage, haylage, what what are you what can we recommend them to do?
Juan Romero: 05:50
So basically, one of the most important decisions we have to make is the dry matter of harvest, and this will apply for these all of these forage crops. So, in the case of corn, so that’s going to be very important in in in basically determining the concentration of starch, and we are in a part of the US where grains are expensive, but we do have the the ability to be able to produce starch in house. So when I compare, and I mentioned shared with you this before, when I visited other states, so there there is Arizona, New Mexico, so Idaho, where water is more scarce, so, I have seen corns that were harvested at 38% dry matter, so which is, you know, at a limit of maturity, so for the most high the most technically managed corn, and they still are getting like 20% starch. So while in many have seen higher levels of starch, a lower levels of dry matter and that’s because we have plenty water. Right?
Juan Romero: 06:52
So we may be limiting a lot of things, but we do have water around, so that’s going to be important. And it’s just a common sense strategy to minimize grain purchasing by producing or basically, corn silage or earlage or snapplage, so to be able to to at least decrease the energy cost.
Glenda Pereira: 07:14
Yeah. Yes. So what can they do, during that time? So they can use a microwave, they can use a casser tester, and and what are some of the values? And and so how do they how do they sample, and how do what are the values that they’re looking for?
Juan Romero: 07:26
So if we are focusing on corn, so, basically, what we should have is just basically having a small chipper shredder, and and running some plants across the field, so at least 10 plants, so and with that, basically, material that is already chopped, so we use that, to dry either in the microwave, or using a Koster or air fryer, so, those have been used, and there is plenty of videos online to how to use those 3. So especially the microwave is very suited for silage, dry matter termination, not that much for hay, but for silage, yes. So, and basically with that, it’s going to be very helpful, to determine harvest for corn because in the past the milk line was used, and it’s a good guideline so to determine harvest for corn, but dry matter is better because the modern hybrids have lost that that connection between the milk line and the dry matter of the overall crop. So we want to be careful, so in terms of not relying entirely on the milk line, because of that those recent advancements in breeding that have, uncoupled the dry matter concentrations, relative to the milk line compared to hybrids in the past.
Glenda Pereira: 08:48
Yeah. So 32% to 38% is where farmers should be targeting.
Juan Romero: 08:53
So really is that the range is going to be, so you can start as early as 30, especially if you have many acres to to harvest and you are you don’t have that many people around, so 30 is the lowest, lowest, lowest, so you can go up to 35. The maximum animal performance that has been observed for corn silage has been between 32 to 35 for the overall crop, so but these numbers unfortunately come from studies in the early 2000. So, but modern nutritionists are pushing the dry matter for corn, so to between 35 to 38, so 3 points further up to up to 38%. So as long as your cornfield is free of pests, as long as you are meeting the minimum recommendations in terms of density, packing, and also the feed out rate, so then you should be fine. But for those people that are struggling with controlling disease, of controlling the, feed out rate, controlling the density, and also how fast you’re filling that silo, then you should basically be careful of not going beyond 35 if you haven’t met those standards first.
Juan Romero: 10:05
Yep. And this is because as you will, or well, in this case, for corn, they will apply. As you harvest a drier plant, it’s going to be harder to pack. And this applies for any forage, not only corn, for also for for alfalfa, for grasses, legumes in general. As you dry them more, it’s going to be harder to pack.
Juan Romero: 10:23
So
Glenda Pereira: 10:24
Which affects, losses because you may want to pack as best as we can to prevent oxygen from accumulating anywhere when we’re packing that.
Juan Romero: 10:33
The more porous that is going to be that silage material, the more exposed it’s going to be for, spoilage losses at the beginning of the fermentation and also when you open and start feeding that material. So I think we have to be careful. Yeah. Go ahead.
Glenda Pereira: 10:48
And then so, the next thing as people are bringing it in is looking at kernel and particle size. Right? Because if they’re bringing, corn silage in from the field, we wanna make sure there’s no cobs, that most of the corn is cracked. Right? So, looking at your, particle size, on your chopper is important.
Juan Romero: 11:08
Yes, indeed. So all corn so it basically in in how, you know, like, right now the the feed markets are very expensive, so my suggestion is that all corn silage should be kernel processed. Right? So when you do the kernel processing, you want to chop the theoretical length of cut of that material, should be .75 inches, so, it’s a bit bigger than the when you are not doing kernel processing for corn, so because the recommendation for not kernel processed corn will be between 0.375 to 0.5 inches, so but this kernel processing is very important to make that starch available, right, and it’s important for us to be checking that gap between the rolls, between 1 to 3 millimeters, following the manufacturer’s guideline for your equipment, right? So, and this is essential to to basically make that starch available to the rumen microbes, so then they get adjusted to the rumenal level.
Juan Romero: 12:07
So, and also we should be routinely checking that material that is harvested, so taking, like a one cup of a material, so I’m checking if there are kernels that are whole in that material. So we shouldn’t have any kernels, so they are whole, all of them should be split in half or smaller, so and that’s how we ensure that we are actually exposing that starch because basically that waxy layer that is covering the kernel is going to be a barrier of digestion. So that is why if we don’t do a good job with this, you can easily see the whole kernels in the manure, right? So and that should never happen. The one that starts to be digested full in the rumen.
Juan Romero: 12:50
In the past, in the nineties, nutritionists there basically were, some nutritionists were suggesting that maybe we should have some bypass starch, but that’s something that we know that actually is not the best for productivity, and we want to have that starch completely digestible in the rumen because if you have the unfortunately, the rumen animal doesn’t have much of capacity to be able to digest starch at intestinal level, and if it goes to the large intestinal level it’s going to pull nitrogen from the animal’s body, and that’s going to decrease the nitrogen in addition efficiency. So you want all that starch to be fermented in the rumen, and the way to ensure this is by doing an adequate kernel processing, so kernel processing score should be about 70%, so, and also, which is something very useful if we actually organize our feed in logistics, is to let that material to ensile for 4 months, so because it has been proven that if just by doing that, you’re going to maximize the starch traceability, so just by letting that corn silage sit. I know that especially for the small farmers, this is very hard to do, but there’s something to keep in mind, right, the longer that you can ferment that corn, the more digestible the starch is going to be just by the fact of sitting in that silo, because the microbes are going to be loosening those starch granules, so the the the protein matrix is encapsulated in the starch granules, are going to be redegrated by fermentation, and then consequently, you know, we’re just by the fact of waiting, we’re just making that starch more digestible, and we want all that starch to be digestible.
Juan Romero: 14:24
Otherwise, it’s just wasting money. Right? You spend so much time, money, planting that cornfield, and now if you don’t take full advantage of it, it’s not very ideal. Right?
Colt Knight: 14:34
Yeah. And some of the other factors that we have to take into consideration is proper packaging or packing, and what do you use for inoculants?
Juan Romero: 14:43
Yes. So the other factor, like Colt was mentioning, so for the density, that’s going to be very important for us to make sure that we are meeting at least 14 pounds of the amount per cubic feet for our corn silage crops. So when I’ve been surveying, whenever possible, silos around the state, and I unfortunately do not have an extension appointment, so for me it’s not that easy to go outside. I try to do that during the summer, so, but whenever I’ve done it, so I noticed that, we are barely meeting that density requirement for corn silages. We do are, like, like, I will say that, like, we are at around there, that 14 pounds per cubic feet, so, but the average for the country is a bit higher than that.
Juan Romero: 15:29
So where we are struggling a lot, and this will be, you know, we’re discussing to have this as a different conversation for next year when we are preparing for the grass for the first cut of, of grass silage, that’s where with the grass silages, that’s where I’ve seen the most of the issues. Silos are 9 pounds of the remaining per cubic feet are not that uncommon, unfortunately. So, so,
Glenda Pereira: 15:52
nearing towards 12 or 14?
Juan Romero: 15:54
So 14 is the bare minimum for any bunker, bag, pile, so that’s what we need to meet. Ideally, we should be getting close to 20 pounds of the amount per cubic feet. That’s where, you know, we’re going to have the best conservation, and there are farmers that do it because the USDA has done surveys, so national surveys about, you know, the, the densities, so I wish I would be able to remember from the top of my from the top of my head, but, but they are definitely, there are farmers out there that are meeting those 20 pounds of their … per cubic feet, but the minimum is 14.
Glenda Pereira: 16:36
Yeah. And and really we’re trying to minimize the toxins, or or any loss of forage. That’s why we’re trying to to meet that.
Juan Romero: 16:44
There are so many angles to this. So let’s start you know, like, you’re when you’re make you’re making a silo of 14 pounds per cubic feet, you’re already having the losses that are going to be around 10%.
Glenda Pereira: 16:56
Okay.
Juan Romero: 16:56
So of the arena material. Right? Depending on there are other factors influencing, but let’s say that, you know, some some, value that is having observed for that level of density, if you are doing lower than that, you’re going to be losing even more.
Glenda Pereira: 17:08
Right.
Juan Romero: 17:08
And that’s the dry matter So the microbes, they will go first for the best nutrients.
Glenda Pereira: 17:15
Right. Which you want to be feeding to your animals.
Juan Romero: 17:17
Yes. They’re going to degrade first the sugars, the soluble proteins, so the first thing that they will you lose will be your best nutrients.
Glenda Pereira: 17:24
Right.
Juan Romero: 17:25
So, of course, we don’t want that because what is going to be left is going to be the recalcitrant fiber, some material, the the material that is harder to digest is going to be what is left behind. But like you said, the microbes are also going to be leaving behind toxins, so especially in the case of molds, they’re going to be leaving mycotoxins. So, issues with zearalenone in the state are, I mean, are this happens.
Glenda Pereira: 17:53
Right.
Juan Romero: 17:54
Right. So so then basically, that’s something that, we should address because these mycotoxin, they have a health effect a negative effect on the health of our animals and the productivity.
Colt Knight: 18:07
One thing to point out is is normally we’re feeding silage to cattle or haylage to cattle, but I get questions all the time, you know, can I feed my pigs, sheep, goats, horses silage, and I usually recommend that they do not, and maybe you could explain why that’s an issue?
Juan Romero: 18:27
So, in the case of goats and sheep, I would be more open about it, so because they’re ruminant animals too, like cattle, So the rumen is a wonderful, you know, creation of nature. So that’s one of the things that fascinated me when I was a freshman, like, wow, you know, like, this thing is so cool. Yeah. So the rumen is actually able to inactivate quite a bit of mycotoxins. It’s not something that, you know, we recommend people to rely on.
Juan Romero: 18:57
So because there are some that are very nasty, like aflatoxin, that, you know, fortunately, you know, they, you know, like, they can go through and, the overwhelm the capacity of the rumen to to be able to tackle this. If they are the concentration is going to be high even for DON, which is known to be degraded, and zearalenone, we are going to basically overwhelm the capacity of the rumen macros to be able to degrade them. So
Glenda Pereira: 19:22
For monogastric.
Juan Romero: 19:23
So yeah. So so that’s already a challenge for a ruminant animal to deal with. So by the imagine
Colt Knight: 19:30
Sheep are more sensitive to it than cattle
Juan Romero: 19:33
so for certain so, yes, so sheep has certain more susceptibilities, for instance, some of the toxins are produced by fungi, like, that are related to the ergot alkaloid producing fungi, the ones that are related to fescue toxicosis, for instance. So, but in in the case of non ruminant animals, so these are going to be, not having this level of of, of protection that the rumen is going to provide to the sheep, to the cattle. So so then these animals are going to be way more susceptible. So especially then you start having other type of toxins that are, that can be especially troublesome, like in the case, for instance, one of the one of the reasons why people deter of feeding silage to horses is because of the botulinum toxin that can sometimes occur when baleages are not properly kept. So and horses will will die in large numbers because of this.
Juan Romero: 20:38
Horses are also going to be more susceptible to the mycotoxins because they don’t have that metabolization of the microbes, the rumen microbes, degrading some of the mycotoxins, they will fully be exposed to them, So and, also, they are more susceptible to allergies, to heaves. Right? So that is why a horse should never be fed moldy hay Yeah. Or moldy silage. Right?
Glenda Pereira: 21:00
So the risk is just too the the risk is just too great for us to be feeding, something like corn silage that it’s it’s just not worth it, especially if we don’t have the best harvest man right? If we if we don’t have, it properly packed, if we don’t have it, proper kernel length, etcetera. But coming back to the inoculants, which I think would be potentially a way for us to try to minimize our losses, there is one inoculant, that you’ve been doing some work on, that is recommended for, corn silage specifically?
Juan Romero: 21:38
So in the case of corn silage, so the inoculants basically that are recommended that have been shown to be actually providing a concrete benefit are the heterolactic inoculants. So we basically means that is this bacteria called Lactobacillus Buchneri, so, that is the one that we want in inoculants. So we want it to be there because these bacteria will allow the production or ensuring the production of acetic acetic acid in corn silage, and acetic acid is a natural antifungal, so it’s basically what is in vinegar, so and this will keep at bay, the yeast and molds so which typically causes problems in corn silage when you open the silo. Right? So corn silage is the, among all the forest crosses, the system silo.
Juan Romero: 22:28
But the problem is when you open the silo and you expose the face to the air, so then basically these the yeast will start to once they have oxygen, they will start to degrade the lactic acid, and then the pH will rise, and then will allow other microbes to thrive like the molds. So I think that’s when we can have issues with aerobic stability, right? So whenever your silo is heating above a 100 degrees Fahrenheit, then that means that we are having serious concerns in terms of, of aerobic instability, so, and that we should be feeding faster. So the recommendations during the, winter time is to feed at least 6 inches per day. In the summers, we should be feeding at least 12 inches per day, so and that’s the minimum.
Juan Romero: 23:13
So if we don’t meet those minimums, that’s going to add more losses because the air is percolating into the face of the silo, so and we take too long to feed, basically that material that is in the face is going to be more time exposed.
Glenda Pereira: 23:27
Right.
Juan Romero: 23:27
So and it’s going to degrade. So and this is especially problematic for silos that have not been packed well, like for grass silos. So that’s why usually when we when I have visited farms around and I’ve seen problems, has been with the grass silage. The grass silage is the one that has a moldy face, that it has heated too much, that is basically has this browning call brown color. So because of the Maillard reaction, the browning reaction, so it has got too hot and basically now the protein is going to be way less digestible, and also you have the toxins that are going to be left behind.
Juan Romero: 24:04
Right? Yeah. So this act of Lactobacillus Buchneri has been proven in research, and not only in the US, but all across the world. So people have done the effort of compiling all the experiments I’ve ever conducted with Lactobacillus Buchneri and basically determined that Lactobacillus Buchneri is, is going to respond and is going to help you to to protect that corn silage during feeding, so whenever you have issues of hot silo faces, hot piles, hot TMRs, it means that you have this problem and you want to use Lactobacillus Buchneri whenever and it’s not only for corn, but also if you have the same issue with grasses and legumes or mixtures, so then you should use this inoculant whenever you have these heating problems when you open those silos. So and it’s important that the Buchneri is in the right count, in the right concentration, so we should be applying at least log 5, so that’s, log 5 colony forming units per fresh gram.
Juan Romero: 25:02
So I know that we’re getting into very technical terms, but the, your supplier of inoculants so should be able to guide you, and also extension, right, should be able to guide you to ensure that the inoculant you’re purchasing is the right one for the problem that you have, because we have many types for different problems, right? Just like with many things in life, so, so that one is specialized in aerobic stability issues, right? So, but you want that account for specifically that one needs to be at least log 5 CFU, or per fresh gram, and I will add that I will suggest that if you’re purchasing such inoculants, it will be from from companies that that actually can show you their research, right, their results. So just ask for that, okay, show me what results you have, and and then basically making sure that that you are purchasing from a manufacturer that that is constantly investing in in the in improving their products, and that they have proven track record. Right?
Juan Romero: 26:03
So of quality. So there are type of inoculants, which are the most common ones I see around. So
Glenda Pereira: 26:09
But they don’t have the same effect and and
Juan Romero: 26:13
Only Lactobacillus Buchneri and Lactobacillus hilgardii and lactobacillus brevis are the ones that have this property that are commercially available, so in a in a significant extent. So, but of all of these, Buchneri is the one that has the largest body of literature. The other ones basically mean the largest number of experiments. The other ones have much less experiments. Doesn’t mean anything really, but basically we are just guiding from being the most taking the most conservative approach possible, and okay, which one is the one that has been used since that 2000s and is yeah.
Juan Romero: 26:50
That will be that one. So it’s a
Glenda Pereira: 26:52
Yeah. And we also don’t want our farmers to be wasting money. So, you know, taking into consideration that this one will work well, if it’s applied at the correct rate, of course. And and, of course, you know, we also wanna make sure that all of those other harvest management strategies are implemented to the best of the farmer’s possibility to then use an inoculant. Right?
Glenda Pereira: 27:14
Because if they can pack correctly, have, every every you know, maturity, everything else in place, those are ways to minimize your losses, than than just, you know, relying on an inoculant.
Juan Romero: 27:28
Yeah. So, you you bring up a very good point because even the companies the the good companies will tell you is that you need first to make sure that you’re meeting the bare minimum management standards, so which are, as I repeat, at least 14 pounds of dry matter per cubic feet, feeding, the feeder rights should be at least 6 inches per day. So
Glenda Pereira: 27:53
Stored for at least
Juan Romero: 27:55
dry matter.
Glenda Pereira: 27:56
Oh, yep. Dry matter, but they should be stored for at least 4 months.
Juan Romero: 27:59
So on these, like, if we that’s for corn silage. Yep. Right? For other crops, I know that we are going to be kind of reserving that discussion for next year. Right?
Juan Romero: 28:09
So, yeah, so what basically for the other ones, basically, in general, the recommendation would be, that we store them at least for a couple of months to have a stable fermentation, but I know a lot of people cannot wait that long.
Glenda Pereira: 28:21
Yeah.
Juan Romero: 28:21
So especially if you’re going to apply like Buchneri, right, and that’s Buchneri, so, so if you’re going to apply that one, you you need to wait you cannot, like, open it right away, you need to wait 60 to 90 days for it to have build up enough levels of acetic acid. So because it’s a slow process. There are some companies that will tell you that they can do it faster, but the reality of the data, if we go to the experiments that have been conducted, it 60 days. 6 to 9. Yeah.
Juan Romero: 28:52
I mean, that’s a hard cold data. Right? It may be some of it some papers that are, you know, maybe from 10 years old, 15 years old, but that’s the most conservative approach that we can take. Right? So it’s like if you want to be conservative, at least 60 to 90 days for when you apply, Buchneri right, to any type of silo.
Juan Romero: 29:10
So by figuring out doing corn silage, waiting 4 months will allow for that distortion, the usability to be at its peak. Right? So and that’s basically what all of us want. Right. Right?
Juan Romero: 29:21
Yeah. Yes.
Glenda Pereira: 29:22
Because we’re relying on that as our energy source. Because like you mentioned, grain can be very expensive, especially here in New England. So relying on grain as an energy source, is not always feasible, and so having corn silage be, that that energy is important. So, again, from the top, we talked about making sure we have appropriate kernel processing so then we can actually have that starch available, dry matter when we’re bringing in the corn silage or the forage being around, as low as 30%, but, reaching near 38%.
Juan Romero: 30:00
So Yes. You can start harvesting a 30 if you are going to take, you know, several days to complete your harvest, so that buys your time. Yep. So, 35 would be the maximum, for somebody that has basically not been able to meet the minimum requirements in terms of having, you know, a crop that is free of of pests during the growing period, that your crop is healthy. So, and that, you know, can meet that those density feeding rates, all of that.
Juan Romero: 30:38
Right. Right. Yes. Then you can start thinking about going up.
Glenda Pereira: 30:40
Yeah. And you just mentioned, so feeding out, we’re making sure we’re feeding at least 6 inches in the winter, 12 inches
Juan Romero: 30:46
Six inches during the summer and 12 in the winter. Sorry. Oh, yeah. You’re right. 6 in
Glenda Pereira: 30:50
6 in the winter and 12
Juan Romero: 30:52
in the summer. Yes.
Glenda Pereira: 30:53
And if we’re using an inoculant, making sure that it has buccaneri, in it. And then lastly, is making sure that our kernel I think I already mentioned the kernel 1, but storage time is at least 60 days, for corn silage to have that starch available at least 4 months.
Juan Romero: 31:09
Yes. 4 months is the peak digestibility. Right? So 60 in general for any Right. Silage crop.
Juan Romero: 31:16
Yes. So on that, basically, if you apply Buchnerite, then you will anyway should be waiting at least 60 days. Yes. So, the the processing, the chopping so it’s very important that, if possible, that we should check our or, our chopping procedures with a Penn State particle separator. So, because I noticed when I’ve done this test across the state that some people are chopping way coarser than what it should be.
Juan Romero: 31:48
So, and that, of course, is going to reduce the digestibility of your forage, if you’re going to reduce the intake, and less intake means less milk, so less gain. We don’t want that. So some of it is because of maintenance of the harvesting equipment, so we need to make sure that we are sharpening those blades at least twice per day during the harvest period. So, and other maintenance related to the the harvesting equipment, and and basically, working with the nutrition, your nutritionist to make because there will be, of course, concerns about super acute acidosis. But research kept proving, actually, that those recommendations that were developed by, by, Limin Kung and the USDA, as far as I can remember, so it’s either one of them or both.
Juan Romero: 32:35
So, then then basically those already take into consideration the silage and the rumination, so to make sure we don’t get into acidosis. Yeah. So, yes, and that’s like 0.75 inches for kernel processed corn, and from 0.3 from 0.375 to 0.5 inches for any other type of silage. So and that’s for the theoretical length of cut. Right?
Juan Romero: 33:01
So, you can get a theoretical length of cut out of, you know, like, checking the manuals of your equipment, because that will be depending on your equipment.
Glenda Pereira: 33:09
Right.
Juan Romero: 33:09
So the the basically, the number of blades, the, the speed of this of the feed roll, so we’ll be determining this theoretical line of cut. So it’s important to check the manual and making sure that we’re on the same page regarding that, and then checking with the pen stays separator to, to make sure that we’re actually chopping to a level that is known to not cause subacute acidosis, so but that you still, you know, being able to help with the packing, but only with the packing because the final recharge will be easier to pack. So but also you will be increasing your intake, because the finer we chop, the more the animal is going to eat. The coarser we chop, the less our animal is going to eat, and less they’re going to produce. But, of course, we always have to take in consideration the risk of subacute ruminol acidosis.
Juan Romero: 33:59
Yeah.
Glenda Pereira: 34:01
And so, with with that, I think, you know, if if farmers can follow these guidelines, they will certainly maximize dry matter intake, which we know, is what drives milk production. Right? So, it’s it’s important that we, have the best dry matter intake possible within the conditions that we’re able to control. So, again, thinking about dry matter being, above 30% and below 38%, making sure that, the kernels and the corn is cracked, when it’s coming in. So using a kernel processor.
Glenda Pereira: 34:41
If we’re packing, making sure, that we’re also using an inoculant that’s gonna be, helpful, to minimize losses and then storing for at least, 4 months for corn silage. And, additionally, when we’re feeding out, in the winter, feed out at least 6 inches from your face and 12 inches in the summer. So this is why we have experts on our, main farm cast here because, these these are things, an important considerations for farmers. I mean, as you travel the state, Juan, as you mentioned, you’re seeing what farmers, can fine tune, during their harvest time.
Juan Romero: 35:22
Yes. I just wanted to add complete the idea regarding the inoculants. Right? So, I mentioned this one for corn. So, usually, like, this inoculum will come in combination with other lactic acid bacteria.
Juan Romero: 35:35
Right? So, and basically, like I said, we want to ensure that the Buchneri is at the right count. So and the other ones are going to be helping basically during the early fermentation stages, so, and usually sold in a combination. But then you have the other type that is the one that I see the most around, so which are the homolactic inoculants, right, which are the traditional. Those are the ones that have been forever, like like since the 80s, seventies, so, those so are basically going to ensure that your silo ferments as fast as possible, so and as acidic as possible, right?
Juan Romero: 36:18
So in the case of corn silage, this is not really a problem because corn is that silage is the easiest to ensile, right? So, but for instance, for grass and legumes, so this could be a concern. So especially for legumes, they have a high buffering capacity, hard to acidify because they have a bunch of protein, also have a good concentration of minerals. So, then in that case, those inoculants are really meant for those, and research has proven that they’re highly beneficial in terms of ensuring that storage of nutrients for grasses, legumes, so, you can see the improvements in an additional profile. So even increased meal production, so especially with lactobacillus plantarum.
Juan Romero: 37:03
So lactobacillus plantarum has this probiotic effect that is known and proven. So and and that can help, basically, for those types of forages, it can help you to, to to not only preserve them properly, but also to improve your animal performance. And there are inoculants that will combine Plantarum with Buchneri. I don’t want to go into specifics or combination because otherwise, you know, like, then I get into the territory of having specific brands. Yeah.
Juan Romero: 37:32
Because the brands different brands will mix different inoculants, so because you also have Pedococos Pentosacios, which is, very good at SEFI and very fast. So, and well, anyway, so, the idea is to know which inoculants to use for, and a serious inoculant company will definitely help you guide you to navigate those waters. So and, and basically making sure that you are using the inoculum properly because otherwise it’s just not going to help you. Those inoculants are not going to solve the issues with, like, very wet silos or very dry silos or poorly packed silos, they’re not going to help you with that. Right.
Juan Romero: 38:19
So, but basically they’re going to allow you to have any insurance on your crop, by basically helping you to to conserve preserve as many nutrients as possible before the animal consume that that material.
Glenda Pereira: 38:36
Yep.
Colt Knight: 38:37
Right? Yes. Well, Dr. Romero, it was great having you on the Maine Farmcast, and we hope to see you back again soon.
Juan Romero: 38:45
Thanks, Colt. Thanks, Glenda. Thanks for, having me, and I hope you have a great rest of your day. Yes. And thanks for the audience for listening.
Colt Knight: 39:00
Howdy, folks. Dr. Knight here. The Maine Farmcast wants to hear from you. Please send us your questions, comments, or suggested episodes to extension.farmcast@maine.edu. Again, that is extension.farmcast@maine.edu.
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