Question:
I have a customer who used Buchneri 500 on his corn silage last fall and some of the corn silage has an "oranger" color to it. It is in bags and the corn silage in the middle of the bag has a good color to it, but the corn silage on the top and around the sides of the bag is more orange, approx. 8-10'' thick. Is this different fermentation acids taking over in different areas of the bag? The producer thought perhaps the gasses from the bag made the silage on top of the bag a different color. What are your thoughts?
Answer:
If it is just orange colored, and not moldy, then the most likely cause is the production of nitrogen dioxide. The gas is an orangey-brown color and tends to stain.
The gas itself is very toxic and must be avoided. It is caused by oxidation of nitrates and tends to be more noticed when nitrates are high, like in drought-stressed corn. You should check pH (because sometimes there is nitric acid formation and the pH might be very low) and double check to make sure nitrates aren't too high.
Question:
I found some blue spot in the bunker of one of my client. Do you think that would be penicilium roqueforti?
Answer:
It could be, but there a whole lot of other possibilities too. I would suggest getting a sample of the moldy silage and sending it to a lab that can do identification on the mold(s) present. Typically we use Dairyland Labs, in Acadia, Wisconsin. Do not freeze the sample, and I would suggest you request identification only (enumeration is of limited value as the counts can change significantly during shipping).
Question:
“I made alfalfa silage with inoculant and now we note it’s clearly less brown than the silage without inoculant treatment. Could you explain this color difference?”
-Hector
Answer:
Dear Hector,
The brown color is caused by non-enzymatic browning (the Maillard reaction) due to a reaction between sugars and proteins in the crop. As a chemical reaction, the rate of the reaction is increased by heating (for example, the browning on the top surface of a loaf of bread when it is baked), so the untreated silage has more brown color because it has heated significantly during the initial ensiling fermentation. Using a good, proven inoculant will give a faster, more efficient fermentation, with less heat generated and the ensiled alfalfa will be green, as it should be.
Best regards,
The Silage Doctor
Question:
“We recently began to notice a silage pile of ours with different colored spots scattered throughout the area. Some parts are an orange color, some are yellowish and some look just fine. But when handling the colored parts, a colored residue appears on your hands.
We also noticed a “chlorine-like” smell from our field when we were cutting for silage. Would this be an issue caused by fungus or mold growing on our corn plants?”
Answer:
Dear Sir,
Are these colors becoming apparent because of the growth of molds, or are the just colors within the plant material? If it is mold growth, they should be able to see that the orange and yellow colors are due to spores and that underneath the spores the fungus is growing as a white mycelia growth (like white threads).
If the color is within the plant material, and given the “chlorine-like” smell and the fact that it discolors the hands, I believe what we are seeing here is that the plant had a high level of nitrates in patches (maybe due to drought stress?). These nitrates get converted into oxides of nitrogen in the silage, even in some cases into nitric acid, which can cause the bright yellow color, and can even cause the silage to go “bleached” looking. If this is what it is the pH of those yellow patches will be pretty low (c. pH 2, maybe even lower).
If this is what it is, the orange bits are more of a concern, since they may be giving off nitrogen dioxide, an orange gas that is heavier than air (so sinks and swirls around, a bit like carbon dioxide in the “smoke effects” used by 70′s rock bands). This gas is very toxic: I am attaching a technical bulletin we produced on it for more information. Needless to say, they need to be very careful as they feed this out, being sure to avoid inhaling any of the orangey gas and being careful to mix the silage thoroughly in the ration, so that a cow does not get a slug of stuff at very low pH. Best would be to carefully remove all the yellow and orange stuff and toss it.
Checking the pH of the yellow bits will tell us a lot. If some of the yellow stuff and the orange stuff is sent for analysis, I would expect an elevated N-level. It would also be interesting to test some more of the body of the silage see if it all has high nitrates.
Best regards,
The Silage Doctor
Question:
“Our dairy producers will finally have a couple of days without rain and are starting to harvest high moisture corn. I’ve received several reports of a blue-black mold growing on the corn kernels, it sounds like many cobs are affected. I have information regarding drying and storage to prevent or reduce further mold growth. Do you have any comments regarding putting up and storing HM Corn?“
Answer:
I would basically re-iterate what I said in my note and recommend they put it up at 28-32% moisture as HMC treated with Buchneri 500 at the HMC rate. The Pedio will get it anaerobic, stopping the mold growth, far quicker than any dry down will. And then the LB will reduce the mold numbers during storage.
But do beware of toxins that may come in on the crop from the field. The mold you describe could include Penicilliium, which is capable of producing a number of nasty toxins.
Best regards,
The Silage Doctor
