J. Sheehan - 2/18/2011 01:33
I have always used innoculants in the past. This year I skipped it on the triticale (all fed to heifers) but still used it on the haylage and corn silage. Not sure it always works. I know it will not improve feed quality, but can help it from getting worse. I guess I figured out how much the innoculant cost (~$.50/ton) compared to how much the feed was worth ($50-60/ton) and figured it was worth it to spend an extra 1% of the total cost as insurance on the feed. Not sure if that was the right answer or not.
Interesting on the corn silage. Is the starch lower or is the availability of the starch lower? How long did it ferment before you started feeding the corn silage? Did it get too dry? Just wondering as starch level and availability has been a huge focus for us with the high corn prices. Up here the cheap Pioneer Inoculant is $1.10/t the the top of the line can run you $4/ton There are lots of "Studies" done on "no innoculant and brand A" But very few if any done comparing different competitors In haylage I think it makes a difference not so sure on the Corn silage A lot of "MARKETING" going on with these innoculants But if you can make a 1-4 dollars per ton of silage put up across the world it amounts to big bucks Next time you get the sales brochure take a hard look at the wording. "may" "might" "could" Doesnt have This does or will make a difference Innoculants dont turn $hit into gold but I think they do help in some instances but not all | 
Silage innoculants and dairy
