The new silage inoculant BIO-SIL® will feature prominently at this year’s Royal Ulster Winter Fair.
It does so following the product’s use on a large number of dairy and beef farms throughout Ireland in 2021.
“The most resounding confirmation coming back from farmers using the inoculant this year relates to its ability in delivering a very sharp pH drop within clamps with days of forage being ensiled,” commented BIO-SIL®’s Frank Foster.
“We have had a number of forages analysed within days of ensiling. All were totally stable, at the required pH and ready for feed-out.”
He continued:
“All of the pits containing BIO-SIL® silage have now been opened. Significantly, waste levels are minimal and the forages have tremendous aerobic stability.
“BIO-SIL® will work equally well on both grass and crop silages.”
The inoculant has a 25-year history of proven, on-farm use in Europe. In addition, extensive research and trial work has confirmed the benefits of using BIO-SIL® to deliver improved forage quality.
“It all adds up to more milk, improved milk quality and enhanced daily liveweight gains when BIO-SIL® treated silages are offered to cattle of all ages,” Frank Foster further cmmented.
He added:
“BIO-SIL® also represents tremendous value-for-money in terms of delivering improved performance from forage on all dairy and livestock farms.”
BIO-SIL® has been officially approved by the German Agricultural Society (DLG) to improve fermentation in a wide range of forages while also boosting forage digestibility and milk yield.
The inoculant promotes the rapid production of lactic acid in fresh forage to quickly produce a low pH and stable ensiling conditions across a very wide range of crops.
This rapid pH drop is achieved within a period of between one and two days, leading to the elimination of yeasts and moulds.
Frank Foster again:
“Trials have confirmed that BIO-SIL® acts to reduce dry matter losses; reduce protein degradation; increase energy concentration; increase forage digestibility while also improving forage intakes by between 0.5 and 1.5kgs per day.
“The end result is an improved milk output of up to two litres per cow per day.”
He continued:
“BIO-SIL® treated forages can be fed out as soon as seven days after the ensiling process has taken place.”
“BIO-SIL® is available in powder form and comes in 100 g sachets. The inoculant is easily dissolvable in water and can be applied using a standard liquid applicator. Each sachet contains enough inoculant to treat 100 tonnes of forage.”
Frank Foster concluded:
“In the right conditions, BIO-SIL® will remain active for 72 hours after mixing. This is another benefit of the inoculant: providing flexibility if the harvest process is halted because of bad weather or a mechanical breakdown.”