Are you getting the most out of compound feed

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Every day, farmers are busy calculating the ration for their cows as accurately as possible, in order to achieve the best possible production. Nevertheless, the result often does not meet expectations. Why does this happen? Tim Verbruggen, research & development project manager, explains. Tim Verbruggen is the research & development project manager at MS Schippers. Since 2009, he has been working on various products to optimise animal resistance in order to produce as optimally as possible. Tim graduated in bio-engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven.

Why do many rations brew so quickly?

A lot of attention is paid to ensilage management, this is an important theme. In spite of all the attention paid to this, we still see that things go wrong when unloading the silo, which results in heating. The silo unloading process is at least as important as the ensilage process. Still, wrongly, it often get less attention.

How does the rotting process occur in the ration?

When unloading the silo, oxygen enters the pit again and bacteria, yeasts and moulds are reactivated. If you mix the ration in the mixer you create additional risk. All raw materials (proteins, energy, moisture, air) come together and the micro-organisms need them for growth. The compound feed is left at the feeding station for 12 to 24 hours, where it is exposed to high temperatures depending on the season, which further accelerates the rotting process. This creates heat, waste products and loss of taste.

What are the risks and costs associated with heating in the compound feed?

There are several risks associated with the activity of these microorganisms: risk of toxin formation, nutrient consumption (5-10%) and abnormal taste, and consequently a reduction in dry matter intake (10-20%).
In spring and summer, the chance of spontaneous heating is naturally greater, because microorganisms thrive better at these temperatures.

Does a rotting process always occur when unloading the silos and how does it develop?

Yes, this is also time-sensitive. The longer this process takes, the faster the rotting process occurs.

Can you identify the most important success factors for good silo unloading management?

Important when unloading the silo are the feed speed, the technique by which the silo is unloaded, how long the compound feed is in the feeding area, how clean the feeding area is, where new feed is provided and whether or not acids are added to the compound feed.

What is the effect of adding acids to the TMR ration?

Acids help with the general preservation of the feed. The growth process of microorganisms is slowed down. The development of waste substances in the compound feed is prevented, with the effect that temperature increases in the feed are prevented. This preserves the flavour of the feed and prevents lower dry matter intake.

What should be taken into consideration when choosing an acid?

A combination of different organic acids, with emphasis on formic acid, propionic acid and benzoic acid. This combination ensures bacterial, fungal and yeast growth inhibition.

Feed hygiene on the van den Acker family farm

Together with his parents, Jan runs a dairy farm with 100 dairy cows and 50 young cattle. He milks with 2 Lely milking robots. Milk production is 12,000 litres with 3.5% protein and 4.3% fat. The average age when the dairy cows are discharged is 6 years and 2 months.

How do you obtain this high content milk production?

Last year we were among the 15 best Lely milking robot companies in the Netherlands, we are proud of that! Feed is extremely important at our company.

"Bad" feed also means "bad" production."

Why do you add acid to the ration?

80% of the result is determined by the quality of the feed. The ration should be fresh and tasty. Therefore food hygiene is very important. It must be good. We started adding acid to the cows' rations 7 years ago. The main reason was that we wanted to prevent the growth of bacteria, yeasts and moulds in the ration, so that these cannot get into the cow's rumen. Last year we stopped adding acid for a week and we could tell the difference immediately from the number of robot visits. These dropped from an average of 3.1 to 2.8 visits. We immediately started adding organic acid again, after which the visits went back to 3.1.

"Look at yourself, if you don't eat right, you don't perform well."

When and why do you add organic acid to the daily ration?

We add organic acid all year round. We do so by the correct concentration of acids per ton of feed with a watering can into the mixer. We have now switched to the MS Schippers, acid for a few years purely because of the price/quality.