Provita has unveiled the results of recent tests in Northern Ireland which confirm the benefits of its new inoculant Advance+.
“We tested 28 random samples of first cut silage made at the end of May this year. Fourteen of these were treated with the new Advance+ inoculant: the others were untreated, the grass was placed in mini silos, compacted and then left to ferment. The samples, which were subsequently sent to AFBI Hillsborough for analysis, were taken fifteen and thirty days after fermentation had commenced,” explained Provita’s Tommy Armstrong.
“And the results that are now back with us are truly astounding in terms of the benefits delivered by Advance+. “
In terms of their chemical composition all of the treated silages demonstrated a better fermentation profile than their untreated counterparts with all of the key animal performance parameters such as ME, DM values, digestibility, protein and sugar content all being superior within the treated group. Sugar levels were 43% higher in the treated grass as it was a more efficient fermentation and therefore didn’t use up as much sugar as the untreated silage. This would be especially beneficial this year when the majority of grass tests we performed came back with very low sugars.”
Tommy Armstrong again.
“These results are extremely positive in their own right. However, it was only when AFBI Hillsborough predicted intake and performance reports on the Advance+ treated forages that its true potential became apparent.
“The figures show that a 500 kilo beef animal when fed only Advance+ treated silage can achieve 0.90 kilo of daily liveweight per day, compared with only 0.69 kilos per day when fed untreated silage only. This works out at a massive 32% improvement in predicted animal performance. When these figures are calculated in a cost benefit calculation it works out at a £6,460 increase in profit levels for 100 animals of this weight over wintered on Advance+ treated silages for 180 days verses untreated. For a store beef animal of 300kg the figures were 0.85 of daily liveweight gain for treated verses 0.64 of daily liveweight gain for untreated ”
Tommy went on to confirm that the performance figures associated with the feeding of the treated silages to milking dairy cows were equally impressive with yields increasing by 2.5 litres per cow per day when the forages are fed in tandem with 4 kilos of meal per day, or 1.75 ltrs for 6 kilos and 0.75 ltrs for 8 kilos.
Tommy concluded:
“Additional tests such as temperature and spoilage bacteria performed in Northern Ireland this year also demonstrated vast differences in stability between Advance+ treated silage and untreated silage. These results confirm the positive trials conducted for EU registration.”
“These recent tests confirm the absolute importance of feeding high quality forages to livestock. And in this context, the use of Advance+ can play a key role in improving performance, efficiency and profitability!”
Advance+ can be used on all types of dry matter and all types of forages including grass, wholecrop and maize.