Effects of Chemical Additives on Whole-Crop Maize Silage Traits

Fungi-associated aerobic instability of maize silages occurs frequently under practical farming conditions. The use of heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria inoculants of the Lactobacillus buchneri-type has been demonstrated to improve stability of silages exposed to air (Kleinschmidt and Kung 2006) but is not a viable option if the silo is closed for less than 8 weeks, and for the treatment of the upper layers, which are particularly prone to deterioration due to lower compaction. In those cases, antimycotic chemicals must be applied of which sorbates, benzoates and propionates are most efficient against fungi (Auerbach 1996; Woolford 1975). However, as commercial chemical silage additives differ in composition and concentrations of individual active ingredients it is difficult to directly compare their efficacy. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the effects of two chemical additives of different compositions and varying application rates on whole-crop maize silage traits. The parameter ‘sodium benzoate equivalents’ was employed to enable the direct comparison in terms of efficacy regardless of the specific composition of the additives