Shrink the Shrink

Bill Stone

Diamond V Technical Support and Field Research

bstone@diamondv.com

315-283-0477 (cell)

• Forage and silo management practices– Haylage windrow width

– Inoculants

– Silage density (Packing)

– Covering

– Feedout

• Feeding management– Concentrate storage on the dairy

– Grain and forage premixes

– Ration preparation

– Electronic feed recording systems

– Reduce orts after implementing procedures to minimize variation

A huge amount of money can be saved

by “shrinking the shrink”

Wide or narrow haylage windrows

Wide swathed windrows reduce shrink by:

•Faster dry-down rates lessen losses due to rain

•More sugars available for the fermentation (and the cow)

•More likely to be harvested at the appropriate DM as

opposed to too wet

Top is

past re

ady, w

hile

hayla

ge

on th

e b

otto

m o

f

the w

indro

w is

still re

spirin

g s

ugars

Narro

w w

indro

ws

Why d

o w

ide w

indro

ws d

ry q

uic

ker?

More

sunshin

e e

xposure

!

2ndC

ut G

rass W

indro

w C

ore

Tem

p

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Date/TimeDate/TimeDate/TimeDate/Time

11:50 AM11:50 AM11:50 AM11:50 AM

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Narrow

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Wide

Wide

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Courte

sy o

f Tom

Kilc

er

Why d

o w

ide w

indro

ws d

ry q

uic

ker?

Sw

ath

Core

Rela

tive H

um

idity

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Date/TimeDate/TimeDate/TimeDate/Time

6/6/036/6/036/6/036/6/03

12:20 PM12:20 PM12:20 PM12:20 PM

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1:50 PM1:50 PM1:50 PM1:50 PM

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Narrow

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Wide

Wide

Wide

Wide

Courte

sy o

f Tom

Kilc

er

Narrow

windrows retain

soil moisture

and have higher

humidity levels

Courtesy of Tom Kilcer

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

NHC40%

NHC59%

NHC73%

NHC83%

SB 94%

% Moisture Lost

2 hour

3 hour

Effect of Width and Conditioning in Alfalfa

Silage - Swath Not Moved

Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County

Windrow width

%age of cutter bar

Produced by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County

22%

24%

26%

28%

30%

NH 40%

NH 59%

Diskm

ow 65%

NH 73%

NH 83%

Sidebar 94%

% Dry Matter

cut

1 hour

Effect of Width and Conditioning in Grass

Silage - Swath Not Moved

Windrow width

%age of cutter bar

14’ disc bine

9’ merger

8’ windrow; 8/14 = 57%,

ideally windrow width would be

> 90% of cutterbar width (12.5 ft)Hlge 2nd 2007

DM 39%

CP 22%

Bound 1%

Sol CP 61%

ADF 31%

NDF 39%

Wide Swath Dries 3X Faster

Caution: it can get too dry

Quickly!

Courtesy of Tom Kilcer

• Forage and silo management practices– Haylage windrow width

– Inoculants– Silage density (Packing)

– Covering

– Feedout

• Feeding management– Concentrate storage on the dairy

– Grain and forage premixes

– Ration preparation

– Electronic feed recording systems

– Reduce orts after implementing procedures to minimize variation

Shrink the shrink

Inoculant Results

• Dr. Keith Bolsen - Kansas State Univ.

• > 200 laboratory scale trials

• 1,000 silages, 25,000 silos

• Positive results = >90% of trials

• These were all “Front-end” inoculants

• On average, homofermentative inoculants improve DM recovery by 2-3 percentage units (Muck, CNC 2008)

Inoculants - other considerations

• Liquid preferable at DM > 40%

• Apply at the chopper, blower, or bag

• Ask for research and quality control procedures

• Keep the bugs alive (refrigerate, non-Cl water)

• Inoculants increase your chances for success, but don’t guarantee it

“Back-end” Inoculants

• Lactobacillus buchneri

�Starts to grow after the initial fermentation

�Converts some of the lactate to acetate (primarily), and propionate (1,2-propanediol)

�Both of these acids are much stronger mold and yeast inhibitors than lactate

�1 percentage unit drop in DM recovery with straight L. buchneri (Kleinschmit & Kung, 2006)

�Wide or jagged bunks? Heating of the TMR? How much of an improvement in DM recovery?

0000

1111

2222

3333

4444

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6666

7777

% DM

Day 2Day 2Day 2Day 2 Day 4Day 4Day 4Day 4 Day 8Day 8Day 8Day 8 Day 56Day 56Day 56Day 56

Days of ensiling

Effect of inoculation with L. buchneri on

acetate levels - alfalfa haylage

ControlControlControlControl

TreatedTreatedTreatedTreated

*

*

Kung et al., J Dairy Sci 2003

• Forage and silo management practices– Haylage windrow width

– Inoculants

– Silage density (Packing)– Covering

– Feedout

• Feeding management– Concentrate storage on the dairy

– Grain and forage premixes

– Ration preparation

– Electronic feed recording systems

– Reduce orts after implementing procedures to minimize variation

Shrink the shrink

Packing Density & DM Loss

0000

5555

10101010

15151515

20202020

25252525

DM loss,%DM loss,%DM loss,%DM loss,%

10101010 14141414 16161616 18181818 22222222

Density (lbs DM/ft3)Density (lbs DM/ft3)Density (lbs DM/ft3)Density (lbs DM/ft3)

Ruppel, 1992

Bunker Silo Densities

• Hay crop silage (87 silos)

• Average = 14.8 lbs/cu ft (6.6 - 27.1)

• Corn silage (81 silos)

• Average = 14.5 lbs/cu ft (7.8 - 23.6)

Holmes, 1999

5

7

9

11

13

15

17

19

21

23

25

0 5 10 15 20 25

Silo

Lbs. D

M/ft3

Haylage Bunker Density

Ave = 15.9

CNY dairies 2006

5

7

9

11

13

15

17

19

21

0 5 10 15 20

Silo

Lbs. D

M/ft3

Corn Silage Bunker Density

Ave = 15.1

CNY dairies 2006

Silage Density 2009

�What are your historical silo densities?

Sample haylage, corn silage from multiple heights; run DM on each sample

�Shoot for 20!

�Use the WI spreadsheet to estimate what will be needed to get there

Will we have adequate packing?

Major influencers of silage density

•Tractor weight•Packing time per ton•Layer thickness•Crop DM

•Particle length•Height of silo

Progressive Wedge

Flatten the

wedge with decreased fill-time

Pack Constantly

Multiple tractors

Shallow layer

Try not to disrupt packed silage

Two tractors “making extra room” by moving in unison

Will we have adequate packing? Real time estimates/options

Controlling Performance II – the “Big Rocks” of Storage

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwforage/dec_soft.htmAlso on your CD

3” layer – 22.8 lbs./ft3

6” layer – 15.6 lbs./ft3

9” layer – 13.2 lbs./ft3

Do you only want to be average?

Did we have adequate packing? After the fact measures…

Controlling Performance II – the “Big Rocks” of Storage

Silage Density Measure using DairyOne’s “Master Forage Probe”

1-800-DHI-COWS

(~$125.00)

http://www.dairyone.com/Forage/DensityCalculators/SingleSite.htm

4.25 run/rise

Filled at 3.75-4.0

60’

14’

8’4.25 run/rise

These are not drive-over piles; side spoilage will be high

Covering

•Cover immediately when finished; ≥ 6 mil white plastic•Cover when rain will shut down harvest•Tire - tire density

Lining bunker walls with

plastic improves silage quality

along the walls

Filling Done

Goal – Minimize oxygen infiltration during

fermentation and feedout

Miner Institute

Velitex “Silobags”

AGRI-FLEX INC.

1-866-287-0777

TEST U.M.SILOS

TOP

STD

PE

Thickness Micron 45 45

Tensile strength at break MD N/mm2 38 22

Tensile strength at break TD N/mm2 30 20

Elongation at break MD % 300 280

Elongation at break TD % 310 350

Permeability to O2 85%

RH 23oC

cm3/m2/24h

100 4000

Permeability to O2 85% RH

50oC

cm3/m2/

24h500 12000

www.silostop.com

1/20 as permeable to oxygen as polyethelene

Muck, CNC 2008

How many inches of silage

must be removed daily to

avoid spoilage?

2”

4”

6”

8”

12”

Feedout

Depends on:

Density

Fermentation profile

Feed-out techniques

Mold and yeast counts

Silage Face Heating

Source: Venne. 2007

• Forage and silo management practices– Haylage windrow width

– Inoculants

– Silage density (Packing)

– Covering

– Feedout

• Feeding management– Concentrate storage on the dairy

– Grain and forage premixes

– Ration preparation

– Electronic feed recording systems

– Reduce orts after implementing procedures to minimize variation

Shrink the shrink

Reduce shrink and help the feeder by Making or purchasing grain mixes

Premixing forages prior to feeding

Adding chopped straw to a mix

Utilizing feed management software

Making the prefresh ration

Lb. DM Lb. DM

Corn silage 12.4 12.4

Haylage 2.0 2.0

Wheat straw 3.5 3.5

Corn meal 1.75

Whole cotton .92

Citrus-Soy mix 3.0

Homer meal 2.7

Minerals .45

Megalac .1

Flobond .15

Limestone .12

Prefresh grain mix 9.5

Reducing Shrink with

Electronic Feed Monitoring Systems

Feed Watch(EZ Feed, TMR Tracker,

Feed Supervisor)

Scale head

Display

Software

Wireless modems

Feed Watch - monitoring feeder deviationsIngredient/

Location

Milk min

Mineral shed

Soy 48

ComBay5

Protein mix

ComBay2

Cottonseed

ComBay6

Corn meal

ComBay7

Grass silage

GrassBunk

Alfalfa silage

Alfalfa bunk

Corn sil

CornNewBunk

Start Time

Stop Time

07:19:09 AM

07:2036 AM

07:20:46 AM

07:21:39 AM

07:22:46 AM

07:23:14 AM

...

Expected AF Qty.

Actual AF Qty

25

28

235

233

397

395

581

580

1,784

1,783

766

772

1,727

1,725

5,727

5,744

Variance Qty.

Variance %

3

12.00

-2

-.85

-2

-.5

-1

-.17

-1

-.06

6

.78

-2

-.12

17

.3

Feed Watch - monitoring feeder deviations

Expected AF Qty./

Actual AF Qty

11,246

11,264

Variance Qty./

Variance %

18 net lbs (34 total)

.16

Feeder Deviation Chart

Feeder Deviation Chart

400/

80,000

.5%

Summary

• Reducing feedstuff shrink is an easy

way to improve farm profitability

• Help your clients to indentify and correct

problem areas

Thanks!