Advanced technologies in forage preservation – silage

Presented by :Thant Mon Paing

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A term paper on Advanced technologies in forage preservation – silage submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the ANSC-225 subject , 2nd sem, 2019-2020
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 Introduction

▪ Several techniques -as efficient ways to store forages

▪ Forage is preserved in the form of hay, haylage or baleage, and silage

hay haylage silage

Baleage

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 Ensiling

▪ a crop preservation method based on natural lactic acid fermentation under

anaerobic conditions (Gollop et al., 2005).
Purpose
✓ to keep forage available throughout the year for ✓ involves many steps which should be
use as the main source of feed with high timed and controlled carefully to
nutritional value for ruminants, thus improving ensure successful ensiling with
the economic and environmental sustainability of minimal economic losses and health
production systems risks

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 Impaired feed intake, linked
to silage inappetence or
physiological disorders
Diminishes
animal performance in terms of body weight
gain and increases feeding costs for farmers
who have to increase the daily silage provision
or add other feedstuffs

❖ Nothing can be done to rectify spoiled silage and it has to be thrown out
❖ Silage degradation entails health risks, as it can act as a vector transmitting
pathogenic agents to animal and humans

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 Major issues in silage processing Needs
▪ Use of poor quality or immature plant
▪ To extend silage shelf life
material
▪ meet the economic and health
▪ Insufficiently rapid establishment of
risks associated with silage
anaerobiosis leading to weak silage
degradation
acidification
▪ innovative techniques in silage
▪ Insufficient control of contamination
processing
by pathogenic or spoilage
▪ respect of good manufacturing
microorganisms
practices
✓ Preventive intervention is possible throughout the ensiling process, from pre-ensiling
to opening and the aerobic stage
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 Outline

➢ Techniques to limit silage degradation in preservative period

1.Limitation of pathogen introduction at harvest

2.Promoting establishment of anaerobiosis
3.Promoting acidification
4.Limiting air ingress during storage
5.Improving aerobic stability
6.Direct inhibition of undesirable microorganisms

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 1. Techniques to Limit pathogen introduction at harvest

To avoid silage degradation,

▪ Pathogens should be prevented from

entering the silage ecosystem

▪ Pre-ensiling GMP is a matter of common

sense and includes such preventive Mold Spoiled
measures as limiting crop degradation by
fungi and molds in the field and waiting
some times between manure or slurry
application and harvest

7 Good quality
 Crops should be harvested no sooner
than four weeks after the last manure
spreading, to limit the presence in silage
of butyric bacteria
(Johansson et al., 2005)
➢ limits the introduction of other pathogens such
as Listeria, Clostridium or E. coli
(Girardin et al., 2005)

Any mixing of dirt or soil with the crop should be avoided by adjusting the harvester to
the appropriate height
➢ Growth conditions and choice of harvesting period

▪ high dry matter concentration (>50% DM) in the raw material due to late harvesting
makes silage more susceptible to self-heating and infestation with toxin-producing fungi
(Purwin et al., 2006)

▪ Carbohydrate content is lower in late-harvested crops, which reduces the nutritive

value of the silage
(Ashbell and Weinberg, 2006)
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 Pathogens ➢ introduced into silage via silos and agricultural equipment

▪ Cleaning before filling should obviously reduce contamination by soil or

manure incorporation
▪ Correct sealing of the silos is also essential to limit contact with small
animals such as rodents and birds, which are potential vectors of many
pathogens
▪ Before each feeding, any feed left over from the previous feeding should
be removed to prevent ingestion of spoiled silage and consequent health
issues

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 2.Techniques to promote establishment of anaerobiosis

▪ Rapid establishment of anaerobiosis limits effluent production and promotes LAB

development and acidification

▪ Crops -into silos as fast as possible, and firmly compacted, in order to quickly

exclude air from the ensiled mass

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 Effluents Production
▪ result of plant respiration and the activity of aerobic microorganisms

volume of effluent Effluents induce

✓ DM content ❖ DM and carbohydrate losses

✓ silo type
✓ degree of consolidation ❖ Dilute any silage additive
✓ chopping length
✓ bruising of the plants
✓ presence of acidic additives

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 To prevent effluent production
Chopping length
▪ Harvest the crops at an appropriate DM content
(30–40% DM) and, with low-DM crops (mainly wet
grasses and legumes), to wilt them in the field
(Weinberg and Ashbell, 2003)

▪ influences the conservation and digestibility of the silage

▪ Anaerobiosis can establish quickly (Silage particles are small )
▪ entail a loss of the fibrous roughage properties necessary for good rumen
function and may result in acidosis (too many small)

▪ linked to excessive effluent(too many many small)

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 Optimal chopping length

▪ For grasses - between 4 and 6 cm

Too many very short
▪ Corn silage for dairy cows -contain less than 1%
of large particles (>2 cm), 8–12% of medium
particles from 1 to 2 cm and less than 50% of
very short particles (<6 mm)

(LeGall and Chénais, 2005)

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 3.Techniques to promote acidification

▪ main effect of silage preservation

▪ depends on anaerobiosis and on the buffering capacity and DM of the crop
▪ incorporation of soil in silage increases its buffering capacity
(Weinberg and Ashbell, 2003)

Buffering capacity is high,

• Lactic acid-weak acid
• PH increase
• spoilage
Reduce available LAB

aerobic microorganisms Remain Acdification delay secondary

fermentation

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 Use of Additives Effects Reference
Mineral acids ▪ Promote silge acdification (O’Kiely et al.,
sulfuric and chlorhydric ▪ Limit pathogenic microorganism growth 2001)
acids
Formic acid ▪ increases the initial rate of decline of (O’Kiely et al.,
enterobacteria in grass silage and is effective in 2001)
reducing E. coli O157:H

▪ effective for reducing levels of biogenic amines Kalac, 2004

(BA) in grass and alfalfa silages
(BA contents in silage -reduced by lowering plant
enzyme activity)

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 Use of Additives Effects Reference
carbohydrate ▪ Rapid acidification
supplementation (AFSSA, 2004)
▪ performed together with LAB inoculation to
ensure the fermentation process

▪ Alfalfa ( few WSC 3–7% DM), necessary to add

carbohydrates such as molasses or whey to
enhance LAB fermentation process

▪ Added molasses represents 0.5 kg and whey

0.75 kg of carbohydrates in silage DM

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 Purpose

Bacterial inoculants ➢ To ensure faster accumulation of organic acids

during the ensiling period and thus limit
fermentation and DM losses

✓ main organic acid produced by epiphytic LAB or silage additives is lactic acid,
responsible for the rapid pH decrease

Commercially available inoculants ➢ Homofermentative lactic acid bacteria efficient

producers of lactic acid.

▪ L. plantarum
(Gollop et al., 2005)
▪ Lactobacillus or Pediococcus
▪ Enterococcus faecium

(Li and Nishino, 2011a; Nkosi et al., 2010)

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 Table1:Preservative effect of bacterial inoculants used to promote acidification in silage

a Inducing lactic acid and VFA production increase.

b Homofermentative species.
18 c Heterofermentative species.
 Contd,

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 4. Techniques to Limit air ingress during storage

▪ Healthy crop at ensiling- silo filling through the storage period to distribution
▪ Avoid-Contamination associated with the introduction of air into the silage

seal bunker
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 Black-on-white coextruded oxygen barrier (OB) film

✓ To constrain spoilage and dry matter losses under

criticalfarm conditions and to improve the stability of
corn silage in the peripheral areas of the silos
✓ resistant to physical damage by birds and rodents and
to UV
(Borreani et al., 2007)

A delay in yeast and mold growth during aerobic exposure of

silages previously protected by OB film compared to
polyethylene films

Dolci et al. (2001)

21 Plastic sheeting, usually polyethylene

 ✓ Ensiling is a competition between aerobic and anaerobic processes
▪ At silo opening, air can enter the forage mass and trigger silage degradation

(McEniry et al., 2010)

▪ Silo capacity - according to feeding needs (herd size and rations), and the
dimensions should be calculated so that a sufficient depth of silage is removed each
day from the silo face to minimize silage exposure to air

▪ A clean cut at the silage front limits air penetration and further spoilage
(Weinberg and Ashbell, 2003)

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 5.Techniques to Improve aerobic stability

▪ by the use of various silage additives

▪ Formic acid -to enhance the aerobic stability of whole-crop wheat,

sorghum and corn silages by causing more extensive heterolactic
fermentation with high levels of acetic and propionic acids in the
silage

(Kung and Ranjit, 2001).

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 ▪ Bacterial additives - to preserve the aerobic stability of opened silos

Homofermentative bacteria Homofermentative bacteria

✓ effective inoculants for silage storage
❖ lactic acid could be used as substrate
by lactate-assimilating yeasts in case
of insufficient anaerobiosis resulting
in silage spoilage
▪ improve the aerobic stability of silage
at unloading
▪ increase aerobic stability and reduce
fermentation losses in numerous studies
(Nkosi et al., 2009)

(Gollop et al., 2005)

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 Table2: Effects and putative microbial mechanisms involved in aerobic stability improvement of
silage through addition of heterofermentative bacterial inoculants

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 6.Techniques to direct inhibit undesirable microorganisms

▪ Additives inhibiting undesirable microorganisms are commonly added to the

ensiled mass
▪ Sodium nitrite in combination with hexamine effectively prevented clostridia
growth (Knicky and Lingvall, 2001)

▪ Use of calcium formiate, sodium benzoate and sodium nitrite have resulted in high
hygienic quality corn silage and significantly reduced concentrations of
zearalenone, deoxynivalenol and total ochratoxins and fumonisins

(Biro et al., 2009)

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 Table3:Effects of bacterial inoculants inhibiting establishment, growth or metabolic activities of
undesirable microorganisms in silage and putative microbial
mechanisms involved

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 Conclusion

✓ Silage processing is based on lactic acid fermentation under anaerobiosis and

preserves the nutritive and sanitary qualities of the crops

✓ Spoilage microorganisms can occur in silage, causing degradation and losses with

significant economic impact

✓ Silage can also be a vector for pathogenic microorganisms that threaten animal

✓ Various kinds of additives help to optimize silage fermentation and preservation,

maintaining high nutritional value in the forage

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