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What is feed quality?
High-quality animal feed is judged based on its nutritional value and visual appearance. From harvest to feeding, maintaining the nutritional value and quality of cattle feed takes more than just good handling and storage practices. To maintain feed value, producers must look for additional solutions to protect their feed quality. Producers should look for solutions to preserve the quality of their hay and silage, the forages they harvest and their grain.
Only by addressing each component of the final ration can producers ensure total feed quality.
The Importance of Hay Preservation
Harvest and storage losses for hay can represent a significant source of economic loss. As soon as the hay is cut and placed in a windrow, quality and nutritional value degrade. Quality hay should contain maximum digestible energy and protein available to meet the needs of high producing livestock with a minimum of mold and other contaminants.
Research has demonstrated the application of forage additives before hay is baled and stored can result in a good return for a producer’s investment. Acid-based preservatives for hay, baleage or haylage, can reduce losses from molds, wild yeast and certain bacteria. Acid-based preservatives are especially effective when the hay is not harvested at ideal moisture levels. Excessive microbial growth can cause hay bale heating, increasing dry matter loss and producing Maillard reactions, which reduce dry matter and crude protein digestibility.
To combat these issues, Kemin has worked to create several effective solutions for high moisture hay such as organic acid blends to reduce mold growth in hay and inhibit microbial growth in silage.
Preservation of High Moisture Hay
Baling hay at higher moisture levels reduces leaf loss and field curing time. By retaining the protein-rich leaves, producers harvest more protein per acre. Reducing field curing time allows for earlier hay regrowth, and this regrowth is less subject to damage by equipment. On irrigated hay fields, earlier baling allows quicker irrigation, allowing regrowth to begin sooner. However, in order to bale hay at moisture levels above 15 percent, treatments are recommended to prevent deterioration and heating during storage.
Our solutions
FRESH CUT® Liquid
A blend of organic acids designed to control mold growth and bale heating when hay is baled with moisture levels over 15%.
Silage SAVOR® Liquid
A liquid preservative for all ensiled crops, including baleage and haylage, to improve silage quality by increasing the retention of nitrogen and inhibiting microbial growth.
Ammo CURB® 85 Liquid
A buffered liquid mold inhibitor for processed feed ingredients and livestock feeds.
Silage Quality Begins at Harvest
Silage is the foundation of nearly every ruminant diet. Whether the silage is made from legumes, small grains, sorghum or corn, quality silage is critical to ensuring profitable production. Making quality silage is a battle against the clock as quality and nutrition degrade very quickly. Producers need to consider crop maturity, chop length, packing density and a whole host of other factors when making high quality silage. The goal of all these steps is to preserve these forages free from mold, wild yeast and bacterial contamination and keeping them preserved for a year or even longer.
Producers have several choices to help increase the storage time of forages. Silage inoculants are bacteria which produce large quantities of lactic acid. The acid produced by these bacteria rapidly drop the pH of silage. Because these bacteria work in a very narrow moisture range, producers who use inoculants must carefully monitor crop maturity and moisture to optimize inoculant performance.
Organic Acids and Silage Preservation
Another tool used for silage preservation is organic acid-based preservatives. These products are especially effective when the forage is not harvested at ideal moisture levels. By reducing the growth of non-beneficial fungi, blended organic acids help natural silage bacteria work more effectively to drop the pH of silage. Organic acids work well on all silages but are particularly effective on silages which are either too dry or too wet. By helping to control the growth of mold and wild yeast in silage treated with blended organic acids, producers have one more tool to help make quality silage no matter the conditions.
Over the years, the research and development team at Kemin, have developed blends of organic acids ideally formulated to work with forages. In addition, Kemin utilizes buffering technology to reduce metal corrosion often associated with unbuffered propionic acid. These buffers reduce equipment damage and increase worker safety without reducing the efficacy of the organic acid.
Our solutions
Silage SAVOR® Liquid
A liquid preservative for all ensiled crops that improves silage quality by increasing the retention of nitrogen and inhibiting microbial growth.
Ammo CURB® 85 Liquid
A buffered liquid mold inhibitor for processed feed ingredients and livestock feeds.
Grain Storage Treatment
Preventing mold growth during storage and during feed processing, is essential to retaining grain quality and maintaining nutritional value of the final feed. Nothing can be done to improve the actual quality of grain in storage, so maintaining the quality at the time of harvest is the goal. Preventing mold growth not only helps preserve nutrients, it can help reduce the formation of harmful mycotoxins.
To combat these issues, Kemin has developed cost-effective solutions for grain treatments and grain storage to prevent mold growth. Kemin is recognized in the feed industry for pioneering the use of blended organic acids to control mold and wild yeast growth. Over the years, Kemin has thoroughly tested, evaluated and perfected various combinations of organic acids and buffering compounds to arrive at cutting-edge products like Myco CURB®, Feed CURB® and No Mold™ 85.
Treating crops with a blended organic acid before short- and long-term storage helps prevent grain mold and bridging of the grain. Grain treated before loading into ships at port location helps the grain arrive in better condition. Additionally, treated grain often receives a premium price when sold in international markets.
Our solutions
Myco CURB® Liquid and Myco CURB® Dry
Liquid and dry blends of buffered organic acids formulated to inhibit mold growth in livestock feeds.
Feed CURB® Dry
Dry mold inhibitor to inhibit the growth of mold in complete livestock feeds and processed or flaked grains for livestock.
Ammo CURB® 85 Liquid
A buffered liquid mold inhibitor for processed feed ingredients and livestock feeds.
SHIELD® Granules Dry
A dry mold inhibitor for processed livestock feeds.
Total Mixed Ration
When feed ingredients are mixed in the total mixed ration (TMR), a whole new series of concerns can arise. The reintroduction of oxygen into ensiled feed and forages during processing and mixing can enhance the environment for mold and wild yeast growth. The growth of these microbes can lead to a cascade of events resulting in ration heating and ultimately causing massive spoilage of the feed. The growth of mold can also lead to formation of mycotoxins – damaging secondary metabolites produced by certain species of fungi. According to research, molds and mycotoxins can decrease TMR nutritional value between 5% and 10%.1
To help prevent ration heating and microbial growth from occurring, organic acids may be added to the TMR during mixing. For best results when using organic acids, use a blended acid with multiple acids to act on numerous mold and wild yeast species to lessen their impact on your ration and ultimately on animal performance.
Our solutions
Myco CURB® Liquid and Dry
Liquid and dry blends of buffered organic acids formulated to inhibit mold growth in livestock feeds.
Feed CURB®
Dry mold inhibitor to inhibit the growth of mold in complete livestock feeds and processed or flaked grains for livestock.
SHIELD® Granules Dry
A dry mold inhibitor for processed livestock feeds.
KALLSIL™ Dry
Helps reduce bridging and caking of feed and feed ingredients.
References
1Wright, T. 2013. Molds and Mycotoxins – Effects of Moldy Feed and Mycotoxins on Cattle. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
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