Improvement of silage quality and aerobic stability

Various silage additives, which claim to improve forage quality, bunk life, and animal performance, are commercially available to Maine producers. These products often have little or no research data to support their claims and rely on user testimonials to document their efficacy. Our dairy farmers need more than testimonials on which to base their forage management practices since their cost of production currently exceeds the milk price by about $3.50 per 100 lb milk. Studies with laboratory-scale mini-silos could define a better protocol to be followed to ensure greater similarity between lab-scale and farm-scale silage fermentations. This would allow faster and less costly development of silage additives by the agricultural chemical industry and would result in better silage quality and greater or more economical production of saleable products by Maine producers.

Investigator: Stokes, M.

Unit: School of Food and Agriculture

Termination Date: 30-Sep-19