The project was initiated by Medipharm which produce microbial inoculants which used
as additives to preserve forage. The main goal was to test three inoculants to produce
maize silege. The following Medipharm produced inoculants were tested, Milab 393,
Lactisil Wolecrop II, Lactisil 300 2. An untreated control was included in the study. The
trial was done at Swedish university of Agriculture and Science in Alnarp, Sweden.
Eurostar was the cultivar of the maize and was grown on 20, 5 hectares. The harvest of
the maize was 9 600 kg DM/hectare. The botanic compound was determined before
ensiling of the maize. Each treatment was done with three replicates. The inoculants were
freeze dried and in powder and was mixed with water prior to ensiling and dosed with
four litres per ton forage. The untreated control was added water only. Additives were
applied field chopper. Maize was ensiled in twelve trial silos. The silos were made of
concrete well rings. Every ring had a diameter of one meter twenty centimetres and rings
were piled up two and two resulting in a total inner height of one meter and twenty
centimetres. Every silo had a storage volume of 1,36m3. The silos were cover with plastic
on the inside of the silo. The silos were manually filled and samples taken from each
filling. The slit between the plastic layers were taped to keep it still until it was loaded
with sand. During storage some silos were damaged by rats resulting in mould and dirt in
the silos. Silos were opened after 116 days and samples taken by a drill were taken out of
every silo. The samples were sent to laboratory for chemical and microbial analysis. High
numbers of yeast was found in all treatments. High numbers of yeast is probably the
result of some air leakage into the silos. The untreated control performed relatively well
for all parameters. Treatment with Lactisil 300 2 was compared with the other treatments
to have the best storage stability. More replicates should be used in further studies.
General guidelines as well cho...
