If you have a claim, take a sample… A story about Importance of being in contact with New Clients and using Vacuum Bags as back up samples

The setting
The farm W… GbR is located in Niedersachsen, in Germany. The farmer has about 240 dairy cows producing daily on average 33 kg milk containing 3.9% fat and 3.6% protein. He decided to test SILOSOLVE® MC for the 5th cut of grass (pasture) in October 2019. The weather during the cut was cold and cloudy. After one day of wilting in the field, the grass was still very wet. The farmer expected about 200 t of grass and purchased the required amount of SILOSOLVE® MC in advance.

The harvest
Grass was collected using self loading wagons during one day. The ambient temperature increased from 5°C in the morning till 20°C in the afternoon. The dry matter content of the grass increased as well, from about 25% at the begin till about 35% at the end.

SILOSOLVE® MC was applied via applicator installed above pick up on the wagon. The farmer realized quickly that the harvest will be much higher than 200 t. He decided to apply another inoculant from the local supplier (a combination product containing L. buchneri, L. kefiri, L. plantarum, Pediococcus pentosaceus) for the rest of the crop. Grab samples were taken from each loading wagon during the filling of the pile.

At the end, collected samples of grass inoculated with SILOSOLVE® MC and local product were pooled separately and ensiled using vacuum sealer.

The silage management
The crop contained visible amounts of soil. Also the access paths were not optimal for a clean delivery of the crop to the pile. Finally, the start of the pile contained high levels of soil (see pictures).

The complaint
The pile was opened for feeding at the beginning of January 2020. The farmer prepared pooled sample from the face of the bunker. The analysis showed high content of the butyric acid. The farmer was “unsatisfied” with the effect of the inoculants. As a sanity check, samples prepared during the harvest and kept in vacuum bags at room temperature for an extra analysis were “activated”. These samples were representing grass inoculated with SILOSOLVE® MC and grass inoculated with a local product separately. Additionally, the analysis for Clostridia spp. was requested. The results of sample analysis from “farmer”, SILOSOLVE® MC and local inoculant (XX Inoculant) are presented in the Table 1.

Discussion
The analysis showed that the sample collected and sent by the farmer contained a very high level of ash (> 10% of DM), indicating high level of contamination by soil. A combination of low dry matter and high contamination by soil creates optimal conditions for Clostridial fermentation. Clostridia were not analysed in this sample, but high concentration of butyric acid (> 0.3% of DM) indicates the clostridial fermentation in the front part of the silage pile, where the sample was taken.

The SILOSOLVE® MC sample, that was prepared from the sub-samples taken directly from the loading wagons, did not contain additional contamination by soil from the road to the pile. Nevertheless, the ash content was quite high as well. The dry matter content was low. But the content of butyric acid was on very low level (< 0.3% of DM) and contamination level by Clostridia spp. was below the maximal critical level recommended by the laboratory performing the analysis. The silage had a maximal fermentation quality level according to DLG. The local product sample was prepared from the subsamples taken directly from the loading wagons in the afternoon. The dry matter content was optimal for a good fermentation, but the ash content was relatively high (> 10% of DM). The butyric acid content was on the low level (< 0.3% of DM). This sample also had a maximal fermentation quality level according to DLG, but the contamination by Clostridia spp. exceeded the critical level recommended by the laboratory. A risk for animal health was highlighted in the analysis certificate.

Follow up
The results of the analysis were discussed with the farmer. It was recommended to take stronger attention to grass cut, tedding, pick up and quality of delivery roads to the bunker to avoid contamination of the crop by soil.

Finally, the farmer agreed that SILOSOLVE® MC did a great job even under challenging conditions.

Take home message
“Take a sample…” It is very useful to accompany the new very important customers during the ensiling. It allows to record all possible challenges that can negatively affect the results later – and expected in many situations a convincing and important piece of the puzzle to explain, what the product does – vs. the impact of management.

One sample from the face of the bunker or from the pile is only a snapshot and may not show the correct full situation. “Take a sample…” again or use your back up samples. Use the SILOSOLVE® FC Seing-is-Believing™ protocol to prepare reference treated and untreated samples by applying SILOSOLVE® manually at the beginning of any large scale field trials.

SILOSOLVE® MC allows the control of Clostridia spp. under challenging conditions in crops with low dry matter content and partially contaminated by soil. But no silage inoculant can compensate for management errors during the silage preparation.