Inoculant – Nutritech

October 22, 2020

Why does grass silage need inoculant?

Last season was a challenging season for many, with very wet conditions in some areas and extremely dry conditions in others. Grass silage demand soared, and in most cases there was not enough feed to go around. Now that we have an opportunity to replenish our supply of grass silage, it is a good time […]

Forage

November 1, 2016

Making & Feeding Quality Forage – Return on Investment

It is important to include fixed (land, interest) and variable (seed, fertiliser, sprays) costs in growing and harvesting pasture or crops to properly evaluate cost benefits of using inoculants when preserving forages. Effective lactic acid producing inoculants have been demonstrated, in controlled trials, to reduce dry matter losses by 5->10%, under good ensiling conditions. Inoculant [...]

Forage, Publications

October 1, 2016

Making & Feeding Quality Forage – Tools

Last month’s article covered some key aspects of the ensiling process. This month will consider some tools to assist in ensuring the best possible preservation. Two of the key principles mentioned last month were, achieving the fastest fermentation to preserve as much forage as possible, and achieving anaerobic conditions by preventing oxygen leaking into the [...]

Forage, Publications

September 1, 2016

Making & Feeding Quality Forage – Principles

Maximising growth and utilisation of high quality home grown forages is a key component in driving dairy farm profitability, particularly with low milk prices. This includes both grazed and conserved pastures and crops, as dairy farmers will need to feed both to match forage supply with herd requirements. This is the first in a series [...]

Forage, Publications

March 1, 2016

Nutritional strategies to help maintain production and body condition in late lactation

Although we’re aware of the importance good management over the next three to four months has on next season’s production, working out the optimal time to dry off can be far more challenging. Assessing condition scores (CS) of your herd now is an important first step to making informed decisions. Target condition scores are 5 [...]

Dairy, Publications

December 1, 2015

Strategies for El Niño

Reduced pasture growth in the East due to lack of moisture with this year’s El Niño conditions, makes it more important to conserve as much of any temporary pasture or crop surpluses. This will reduce requirements for supplementary feeds, or the need to dry cows off early. Conversely, wet conditions in the West may result [...]

Dairy, Publications

September 1, 2015

Inoculants Help Achieve Maximum Use of Home Grown Forages

It is important to maximise growth, conservation and utilisation of home grown feeds, as farm overhead and running costs attributed to them cannot be avoided. Repeated dairy industry surveys and competitions (Dairy Business of the Year) have highlighted this as a major driver of farm profitability irrespective of farm system (1-5). This is even more [...]

Forage, Publications

December 1, 2014

Why use Silage Inoculants and Which are Best?

Farmers often ask if silage inoculants are beneficial when making forage silages, and my answer is yes, irrespective of situation and type of crop. It is a matter of risk and limiting losses, of dry matter and nutrient value, at every stage in silage making and utilisation. Plants naturally have several varieties of bacteria, yeasts [...]

Forage, Publications

November 1, 2014

Tackling Thermoduric Bacteria in Silages

Thermoduric bacteria are those that can survive high temperatures, such as during pasteurisation, and can cause spoilage in dairy products. The most common thermoduric bacteria are spore forming Bacillus and Clostridium species, which are widespread in the farm environment. One major route of contamination can be from cows eating soil or poor quality silage, producing [...]

Forage, Publications

September 1, 2014

Silage Inoculants – Investment or Expense?

There is a tendency to undervalue silages, both in terms of feed value and the true costs of growing and ensiling them. Consequently, many farmers do not pay enough attention to making and using them for maximum benefit. The cost of land has to be included when calculating growing costs. If debt free, then opportunity [...]

Forage, Publications

Tag Archives: Inoculant