Tag Archive for: Forage

Quality Before The Chopper And After

As chopping season sneaks up on us, we all start to think: “What can I do to ensure quality feed for my cows for the next 365 days of feeding?” While the answer might seem difficult, adding a few key steps, pre-harvest, and mid-harvest, could make a large difference when it comes to feeding out. First, always consult with your nutritionist and other members of your team to help make these things possible.


Forage Manager Sam Smith travels out to his client’s fields to test samples.

One of the most challenging but crucial aspects of quality corn silage is moisture. It is never too early to start checking for moistures; it helps us watch the plant dry down and monitor how fast it may be moving. As we near harvest, we want to be checking our moistures more often to ensure we do not miss our window.

Processing is another important part of having quality corn silage. Checking processing while chopping can help maintain a good cut length and kernel processing. When corn is between 65%-69% moisture for higher corn silage diets, cut length is ideal between ¾-1 inch. For lower corn silage diets, ½-¾ inch TLC is ideal. As your corn silage gets below 65%, cut shorter than half an inch. We can check processing through a Penn State shaker box, and doing this earlier rather than of later helps us make important decisions before it is too late.

When inspecting the processing of your corn silage, we like to see kernels split but not pulverized and that the cob is well broken up. Remember to always consult with your nutritionist and to reach out to your PEG Forage Manager with any questions.

Happy harvest,
We will be seeing you around the Farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam Smith
PEG Forage Manager

 

 

The Importance of Using the Right Forage Tests

Today, you can test the efficiency of every aspect of your farm, from the production of the cows to the tractor battery. Performing these tests gives you the peace of mind that things are running smoothly.

This begs the question, “How often are you testing your forage, and are you using the right test to evaluate it?”

Your nutritionist probably tests your forage every so often to make adjustments in the ration when there is a change of silage bag, silo, or pile. Testing ensures the nutritionist can reformulate the ration if anything significant has changed.

Most likely, your nutritionist will do an NIR test to get the results. It’s an inexpensive test with a quick turnaround time. By choosing this test, they can get your results and adjust your ration as soon as possible. It provides value in helping your nutritionist get a general idea of your silage so they can make management decisions as far as your ration goes on your farm. Still however, it is not an extremely accurate test.

An NIR test fails to show in-depth results. For example, when it comes to evaluating one variety to the next, you will see minimal deviation of NDFd in an NIR test. The minimal deviation is not ideal because NDFd can be one of the most significant differences, variety to variety. There are other factors you may use to determine what is right for your farm, but one of the main limiting factors in the diet usually comes down to NDFd.

If you are looking for another option to get a significant variance in your results and look at the nuts and bolts of your feed, you can turn to a wet chemistry test. Most people and companies do not use this because it does cost more and can take one to two weeks to perform.

Prairie Estates Genetics Forage Manager, Kyle Sigg, collects forage samples for testing.

At Prairie Estates Genetics, we have been using wet chemistry to evaluate the quality of our varieties and competitors on all the farms we work with for over 20 years. We cover the extra cost, so our farmers don’t have to. At chopping, we grab samples and send it in for our farmers to give them an exact look at what their feed is. Just like you wouldn’t want to assume your tractor battery works, we take this extra step, so there is no guessing when it comes to your feed for the rest of the year.

You have one chance at making the feed that you will have to utilize for the entire year. Using wet chemistry helps us evaluate how every variety in our lineup is performing in an extremely wide variety of situations and environments to guarantee that you will have the best feed year after year.

But we don’t stop there. We also do scissor clippings in the spring to assist our customers with their alfalfa to make sure we are getting the best quality out of every crop. At Prairie Estates Genetics, we provide more than seed and delivery; we provide Next-Gen Service. We do our best to give you peace of mind that every year you will have high-quality, consistent feed, and we achieve that by working with you and using the right test for the right job.

Matt Blum
Forage Manager
Prairie Estates Genetics

Benefits of Harvest Home Fermentation Aid

In this environment, it’s important to think about the Return On Investment (ROI) of everything you’ve purchased. Harvest Home, Prairie Estates Genetics’ exclusive fermentation aid, has one of the best ROIs of anything you can use on your farm. Our senior-most Forage Manager, Mike Kabat, has the technical expertise to get into the nitty-gritty of why oxygen management practices are so important and how Harvest Home is uniquely suited to assure a cool face at feed-out.

On the left, a sample treated with Prairie Estates Genetics Harvest Home fermentation aid, on the right, an untreated sample.

The picture above was sent to us by a producer that used Harvest Home on one bunker and nothing on the next. On the left, you can see by the greener, fresher looking sample, showcasing that the treated feed had a very efficient fermentation process. The darker, more “burnt” sample did not ferment efficiently and had a much higher dry matter loss.

Controlling trapped oxygen is the key factor to a great fermentation and low dry matter loss. Oxygen is most successfully controlled by good management practices like proper packing management, sound storage structures, covering piles & bunkers quickly, and using oxygen limiting barriers. Forage additives and inoculants are also very important in controlling the trapped oxygen that is in the structure after packing/filling and covering are done. When you control oxygen, you control the heat or temperature of the fermentation. High range temperatures will result in “burnt up” or lost nutrients.

This retention of dry matter gives you an ROI of at least 5 to 1, meaning five dollars saved for every dollar spent.

Using good oxygen management practices is extremely important as it will determine which Lactobacillus bacteria strains are active and how long they are active. Heterofermenters produce acetic acid – and are active in the presence of oxygen during bunker feed out. Homofermenters produce Lactic acid and are active when the oxygen is used up, and the bunker is sealed. We need both acids if we want a stable end product, but we need to do it quickly to drive the pH as low as possible.

Harvest Home is a unique and proprietary product of Prairie Estates Genetics that contains oxygen scavengers, mold inhibitors, and extremely high levels of enzymes. The high-level oxygen scavengers and mold inhibitors tie-up trapped oxygen and control the temperature of the pile. The extremely high level of enzymes breaks down complex carbohydrates into simple sugars for the native bacteria to use as food. This food helps the bacteria produce high levels of lactic and acetic acid in a short amount of time to drive the pH low, which greatly improves bunk life and feed out.

Mike Kabat
Senior Forage Manager
Prairie Estate Genetics