BOTTOM LINE Thursday, August 6, 2020 SECTION E
Sharing ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
Manage summer feed storage LUIZ FERRARETTO
Hot summer weather can be problematic for dairyfeed ingredients and total mixed rations. It’s vital that feed quality and aerobic stability is maintained during hotweather conditions. Doing so will minimize nutrient losses Ferraretto while optimizing feed intakes, which is often compromised due to heat stress. Fermented forages rich in starch including corn silage and high-moisture corn, as well as diets with inflated levels of moisture or wet byproducts such as wet brewer’s grain, are more vulnerable to poor aerobic stability. Aerobic stability is defined as the length of time a feed ingredient lasts before heating or spoiling when exposed to air. Feeds like those mentioned become especially unstable when exposed to oxygen in combination with humidity and temperatures. Those conditions allow for rapid growth of yeasts, which use nutrients and lactic acid as energy sources. The growth of yeasts sets off a chain reaction that starts with heating and leads to the loss of volatile acids, a rise in pH, the growth of undesired molds
and ultimately instability. For effective summertime feed management, attention should be directed to optimal silage feed-out as well as close monitoring of total-mixed-ration temperatures. Producing aerobically stable silage requires a combination of adequate harvesting and storing management as well as good feed-out practices. With corn-harvesting season approaching, it’s important to review and consider essentials. It’s imperative to sufficiently remove oxygen from silage during the packing and sealing process. Adequate packing density reduces storage losses and improves fermentation. Harvesting coarsely chopped or late-maturity silage — or that which is greater than 40 percent dry matter — should be done with caution. Those practices commonly result in poor packing and lead to more oxygen retention as well as reduced aerobic stability at feed-out. The rate at which oxygen penetrates the silage face at feed-out is directly proportional to packing density. Inoculating silage with heterofermentative microbial inoculants may improve the aerobic stability of corn silage and high-moisture corn. The heterofermentative bacteria most
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Maintaining aerobic stability is critical to preserving the nutritive value of silages and total mixed rations, and to mitigate reductions in feed intake. commonly used in silage inoculants is Lactobacillus buchneri, which converts lactate to acetate and 1,2-propanediol. Typical fermentation responses to L. buchneri inoculation are presented in Table 1. New combinations of inoculants containing L. buchneri are showing promising research results. For example researchers are investigating the combination of L. buchneri with L. diolivorans because the latter can convert 1,2-propanediol into propionate. Both acetate and propionate have antifungal properties that inhibit yeast and mold growth. But it’s important to remember that many of the issues related to poor
aerobic stability are a result of poor management practices. It’s critical to first correct poor management protocols to maximize the benefits of using a microbial inoculant. Feed-out practices that allow air to infiltrate into the silage face will also reduce aerobic stability. Some commonly observed mal-
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TRACTORS
Adapted from Kleinschmit and Kung (2006). Difference calculated as Inoculated – Non-inoculated (Control) silage.
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differently. It’s a long-lived climate pollutant, a stock gas that keeps building in the atmosphere to increase the existing supply. It hangs over us for 1,000 years – and potentially forever. That’s because there’s too much of it to be absorbed by carbon sinks, oceans, soils and plants. Rather than addressing
that problem, the finger of blame is often pointed at methane instead – particularly that produced by cattle. Research suggests methane is not as loathsome as many believe. It may even be part of the solution to the planet’s stockpile of carbon dioxide. Please see MITLOEHNER, Page E2
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What goes around doesn’t always come around. But in the case of the biogenic carbon cycle the old adage holds true. It’s one of the reasons methane should be viewed differently than carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, the most plentiful greenhouse gas. Mitloehner Methane is emitted in several ways, a few of which include during production and transport of fossil fuels during decomposition of organic waste in landfills from livestock and other agricultural practices Ruminant animals such as dairy cattle are often criticized because they emit methane during digestion. Biogenic methane is the methane that comes from animals and decomposing organic matter in landfills; it’s a short-lived climate pollutant. It’s also a flow gas ¬– meaning it cycles through the atmosphere. After 10 years it reacts with a hydroxyl radical to become carbon dioxide and water. As part of the biogenic carbon cycle plants absorb carbon dioxide. Through photosynthesis they harness the sun’s energy to produce carbohydrates such as cellulose. Indigestible by humans, cellulose is a key feed ingredient for cattle and other ruminants. Their rumens break it down, take carbon from it and emit a small portion as methane that goes into the atmosphere. Such is the continuous biogenic carbon cycle. The carbon dioxide that results from the burning of fossil fuels functions much
Luiz Ferraretto is an assistant professor in the department of animal and dairy sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a ruminant-nutrition specialist for UW-Division of Extension. Email ferraretto@wisc.edu to contact him.
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FRANK MITLOEHNER
er’s grains in the total mixed ration during hot weather may increase the ration’s susceptibility to heating and spoiling. Another preventative option is to add buffered-acid products to the ration; they typically contain buffered acetate, propionate or benzoate. Buffered-acid products have the potential to inhibit yeast proliferation and improve feed stability. Like other approaches to preventing the negative impacts of heat stress, sound harvesting and feed-out practices combined with effective feed-bunk management will work together to keep cows healthy and productive in suboptimal conditions.
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Table 1. Effect of Lactobacillus buchneri on fermentation profile of corn silage 1,2 Item Control Difference pH 3.70 0.18 Lactate, % of DM 6.59 -1.80 Acetate, % of DM 2.18 1.71 Yeast, log cfu/g 4.18 -2.30 DM recovery, % 95.5 -1.0 Aerobic stability, h 25 478
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practices include uneven silage facing, feeding out too slowly, removing plastic from a section of silage too soon and allowing feed removed from the silage face to sit for long periods of time. Poor aerobic stability of the total mixed ration typically has adverse effects on its nutritive value as well as animal intake. To avoid those issues, monitor temperatures of total mixed ration in the feed bunk throughout the day. If the total mixed ration is becoming hot, determine the cause of the heating. Feeding reduced quantities of total mixed ration more frequently throughout the day could be a good solution to minimize spoilage. That practice also matches a cow’s reduced feed-intake tendencies when she’s experiencing heat stress. It’s also advisable to exclude likely-to-spoil ingredients from the total mixed ration. Including wet brewer’s or wet distill-
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WINDEX FARM FRANKFORT, NEW YORK Dale, Deb, Bryce and Kayla Windecker 100 Registered Holstein cows BAA 107.6, 7 EX, 47 VG, 28 GP 65 lbs/cow/day SCC 110,000 Certified Organic grazing herd Photos: Bryce, Deb and Dale Windecker with hay equipment. Bryce at 2019 Big E with his bred-and-owned show cow from a top cow family Windex Fremont Dandy EX94. She was nominated Jr. All-American 5-year-old.
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