Frank Mickan
Fodder Conservation and Pasture Specialist
DEPI, Ellinbank Centre
Silage additives, if applied at the appropriate rates and in the right conditions will generally result in silages with reduced losses of nutritive value and dry matter than untreated silages. Even when ensiled under “good silage making conditions” research has shown that applying silage additives to be an advantage.
However, to be most effective additives must be distributed as evenly as possible throughout as much of the fresh forage as possible, at the correct rate of application and with minimal additive loss. Additives can be lost by evaporation, wind drift of liquid droplets and possibly some of the sprayed additive not even being applied to the material at all such as in narrow windrows being fed into the pickup.