How should the perfect silage process work?

Fermentation of sugar into lactic acid in an oxygen free environment without any significant losses.

Seems simple enough, but it is far from. Too many different factors affect the process for it to function without additives. Let us start with the basics.

The aim with silage making is to preserve crop as feed with small nutritional losses at a reasonable cost. The quality of silage can be measured in two ways, nutritionally and hygienically. The nutritional quality is measured in respect of digestibility (energy), protein content and also sometimes also the presence of minerals and vitamins. The hygienically quality refers to the presence of such that should not be in the silage clostridia, yeast or mould and that may affect animal health negatively. Both the nutritional and hygienically factors affect productivity.

What is of most importance?

An oxygen-free environment. No additive can compensate for error handling. Read more under "Silo or bale?" and "Chop - Compress - Cover".

The silage process is also affected by DM content and the crop you selected, as shown in the diagram.

Graph explanations: DM = dry matter content, FC = fermentation coefficient

a) Area "a" is often characterized as difficult to ferment (FC <35). Directly cut and harvested legumes are very difficult to ensile. Legumes are difficult to ferment due to their resistance to pH reduction (buffering properties).

b) Area "b" has been found to be moderately difficult to ferment (FC> 35, but ts-content less than 35%). Direct yield, but with sugar-rich crops, which facilitates lactic acid formation.

c) Area "c" is easily fermented (DM content 35-50%). Pre dried crops with high sugar content means less risk of clostridia but there might be a risk of mould growth if oxygen is available.

d) Area "d" can be a bit harder to ferment (DM-content 35-50%, and poor sugar crop). Pre dried, but high in legumes or late harvests makes it harder for the lactic acid bacteria to grow (and therefore lower the pH). Undesirable bacteria can grow and mould if oxygen is available.

e) Area "e" is so dry that fermentation can’t happen. The crop is preserved by airtight storage. Normally referred to as haylage (DM> 50%). The greatest risk is the yeast and mould growth.