SILO LACTOFORE

A microbiological starter culture for ensiling of fodder

"Silo Lactofore" – a microbiological compound containing living cells of a pure culture of lactic fermentation bacteria Lactobaccilus plantarum, Streptococcus lactis, extracted from a high quality silage.

PURPOSE

"Silo Lactofore" is used as part of the process of silage making from herbage, in order to improve silo quality by way of a controlled lactic-acid fermentation, which betters the vitamin content of silo and its ratio of organic acids, along with ensuring a longer storage period for such silo.

HOW IT WORKS?

   When making silo without lactic-acid bacteria fermentation, saprogenic flora develops in a most active and fast way during the early days of the process. Only on the 3rd or 4th day and only if the raw material is a fast-fermenting one, a considerable accumulation of lactic acid and reduction of the number of saprogenic cultures are normally observed. When making silo from herbage reach in proteins, lactic-acid bacteria become prevalent on the 7th day of the process only. This can be explained by the fact that lactic acid flora reproduce itself in an anaerobic way, while saprogenic flora needs oxygen.  In the first days of the silo-making process saprogenic flora actively use up oxygen contained in the bio-mass. In a freshly-mown herbage not treated with Lactofore, the content of lactic-acid flora per 1 gram of the biomass is 500 000 cells, while the same parameter for saprogenic flora is as much as 7 million cells.

  The method of silo production using the "Silo Lactofore" compound means artificial enrichment of the silo mass by acid lactic flora Streptococcus lactis.

    These bacteria belong to normal epiflora that live on plants and on decaying plant residue. They are gram-positive bacteria producing no endospores; they look like long stationary bacterial rods. Lactobaccilus plantarum cause homolactic fermentation, i.e. they produce almost exclusively lactic acid amounting here up to 90% of all other fermentation products. Due to this they reduce the level of pH down to < 5 and, by this, suppress the growth of other flora that can't live in such an acidic environment.

  Application of the "Silo Lactofore" compound onto plant residue leads to a fast accumulation of lactic acid and inhibition of saprogenic flora in the very first days of fermentation. This also prevents butyric fermentation that is normally observed during production of silo from raw materials that are rich in proteins or insufficiently trampled in the bunker.

  Silage produced with Lactofore, if compared with the one not treated with the compound, is characterized with a higher content of nutrients and excellent organoleptic properties; due to this fact silo products are more eagerly eaten by cattle and conduce higher productivity in animals. In 1960-1970s, when at cattle farms in Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod, Vologda and other regions of Russia different ensiling ferments were applied, it was proved that animals fed with Lactofore-fermented silo show better results, such as:

• average daily weight gain for pigs was 5.7-12% better;
• milk yield was 5-10 % better;
• milk fatness was 0.1% better while milk acidity was 1.0% lower.

  These data varied from farm to farm depending on local conditions and production level.

ENSILING DIFFERENT TYPES OF RAW MATERIAL

1. Silage crops
Sunflower: harvesting and ensiling are to be done at early bloom.
Maize: harvesting and ensiling are to be done during the wax ripeness phase.
Topinambour: both earthnuts (tubers) and the upper part (stems, leaves) of the plant are to be used for ensiling. In Southern regions harvesting and ensiling of herbage are to be done during the bloom phase, in Northern regions – before early frosts.  Topinambour tubers are ensiled as root crop.
Legume-grass mixtures: harvesting and ensiling are to be done during seedpod formation.
Cultivated cabbage: harvesting and ensiling are to be done in late Summer.
Grasses: harvesting and ensiling are to be done at bloom.
Weeds and wild vegetation: harvesting and ensiling are to be done before early bloom. Add grasses or vegetable wastes to the mass being fermented.

2. Producing silo from hardly-fermentable plants.
All known methods of ensiling hardly fermentable plants are based either on artificial acidification of the environment by mineral/organic acids (formic acid, benzoic acid) in order to suppress the growth of saprogenic flora, or on adding alternative sources of sugars to herbage, for instance, molasses. Application of 2-3 % of molasses provokes a more vigorous lactic acid fermentation but at the same time contributes to other types of the process. To avoid that, add Lactofore to the raw mass using any method of silo production.

3. Ensiling root crops.
There are two methods of root crops ensiling: in a mixture with barnyard fodder and without it. If producing silo from a mixture of root crops and barnyard fodder you should take 3-4 shares of the former and 1 share of the latter. If producing silo from root crops only, put a 0.5 m deep layer of barnyard fodder at the bottom of the silo bunker to soak up the sap relieved from the mass during fermentation. Do not forget to wash root crops before chopping and ensiling. Root crops and barnyard fodder contain too few lactic acid bacteria, therefore during spreading of silo in the bunker the addition of Lactofore is a must.

4. Pumpkin ensiling.
Due to the crop’s high moisture content, it’s ensiling usually involves mixing it with more dry types of forage, mainly barnyard fodder. Normally, for 3-4 shares of chopped pumpkin (use a silage cutter) 1 share of barnyard fodder is taken. This mixture contains too few lactic acid bacteria, therefore for its ensiling the addition of Lactofore is necessary.

5. Ensiling potato.
Potato is ensiled either raw or cooked. If ensiling raw potato, the loss of diluted carbohydrates does not exceed 5%, if ensiling steamed potato these losses are normally 1-2 %. Compare: during potato storage 10% of the initial diluted carbohydrates are lost due to tuber breathing. If ensiling chopped raw potato, bunkers are to be loaded not more that at 3/4 of their capacity because very intensive gas production and sap foaming are taking place during the first days of fermentation, due to which fact the bulk of the product in the bunker rises. Before covering the fermented raw potato, put a layer of barnyard fodder on top of the mass. If ensiling cooked potato, fermentation proceeds slower because the mass contains practically no flora. Application of a silo ferment allows to speed up the process and prevent butyric acid fermentation, both in the case of raw or cooked potato.

6. Ensiling industry waste.
Pulp. Pulp is a mass of sugar-beetroot shreds with a high moisture content and some remaining sugar in it. The pulp is to be ensiled immediately after its arrival because its storage life is only 2 days. While ensiling the pulp, you have to squeeze it out in order to remove excessive moist; during spreading of the pulp in the bunker add molasses in the amount of 2% of the mass. Instead of molasses, easily-fermented raw material can be added at the ratio of 1 share of this to 1 share of the pulp.

  Pomace. Pomace is a waste resulting from the industrial production of starch and glucose syrup; its moist content is extremely high. During industrial production of this type, large amounts of potato, maize and wheat pomace are by-produced. Pomace is easily fermented but can’t be stored for longer times. Maize and wheat pomace is more nutritive than the potato one.

  Beer grains. Beer grains is a waste product of beer industry. Beer grains are ensiled with an addition of 2% of molasses, since they contain practically no sugar. You can also add to it the herbage of easily fermented plants.

  All the types of industry waste contain no flora and their ensiling must involve addition of Lactofore.

APPLICATION METHOD AND APPLICATION RATES

"Silo Lactofore" compound is used for treating any type of raw material indented for ensiling and fermentation without addition of salt.
Only 1 liter of the compound is needed for 15 metric tons of herbage.
While using the compound, shake it well, then mix it with drinking water and add to the herbage according to the table below and in relation to moisture content:

  The surface layer of silo is the most favourable environment for saprogenic flora; therefore put a 50 cm deep final layer on top of the mass in the bunker with a double amount of Lactofore.

  Apply the solution evenly! The best results can be obtained if the solution is applied to herbage immediately after mowing: the plant material is to be sprinkled with Lactofore during the process of its loading into a truck. Equally effective will be the treatment of herbage with Lactofore when spreading the raw material in towers or trenches. The solution is to be applied using a sprinkler, spraying can or a dosing pump.

  The solution is harmless for humans and animals. No special safety measures are required during its application. The harmlessness of Lactofore has been confirmed by bio-tests, long-term trials and a quality certificate.

SPECIFICATION

The “Silo Lactofore” is a non-transparent light brown liquid with a pleasant kvass-like smell and a weakly acidic taste. The titre of the solution is min 5?108 live cells of lactic acid flora in 1 ml of the culture fluid; acidogenesis activity – min 80T.

The "Silo Lactofore" is produced in sterile environment and is supplied in air-tight sterile canisters with the capacity of 11 liters each.

The canisters are to be opened immediately before application; open vessels are not recommended to be stored for more than 24 hours due to a risk of infestation of the pure culture inside them.

Store Lactofore in a dark cool place; keep it from heating over 25 0C and from freezing below 0 0C; otherwise the solution’s performance characteristic will be lost and its containers can be damaged.

Warranty storage life of the preparation: 3 months from the date of manufacture.