During a Pioneer Agronomy Day in Bethal, Mpumalanga, last week, farmers were introduced to the Granular Insights app and the silage jug.
HW Beeken, an agronomist at Pioneer, explained that getting maximum value from silage depended on producing as much starch as possible, and making that starch available to the animals to ingest it. The starch provided animals with energy to drive production, be it milk, meat, or wool.
“The way in which the maize is cut and the kernels crushed, has a big impact on the value of the silage. The maize kernel has an endosperm capsule that cannot be penetrated by any bacteria. So, if the kernel is left whole, it will never ferment during the silage fermentation process. These whole kernels are eaten by livestock and secreted out without the animal deriving any value from it. It is food that has been produced at a great expense, but which provides no value,” Beeken said.
To reduce the percentage of whole kernels in silage, farmers need to pay close attention during the harvest process. Pioneer has created a 1ℓ jug which farmers can use to test batches of silage as it is being cut. The material collected in the jug should contain no more than two whole kernels. If it does, the cutting and crushing process should be adjusted.
Beeken added that this was a practical way farmers could test their own, and contractors’ efficiency.
“The measure of success should not be the number of hectares cut in a day, but rather the absence of whole kernels. Two whole kernels in a 1ℓ jug extrapolated across a whole harvest translates to an enormous waste in feed.”
Another tool showcased at the farmer’s day was the Granular Insights app. This is a precision agriculture tool that can map fields and create individual management zones. For silage farmers it has the added benefit of being able to provide an accurate harvest date, some 60 days after the maize has been planted. This means farmers can better plan the harvest and book contractors timeously.
“By using real-time weather data, the app adjusts the harvest date, since drier weather will result in an earlier harvest. The technology can also identify zones where there is perhaps poorer soil, and the maize would dry out quicker. Farmers then have a better understanding of which blocks to harvest first,” Beeken explained.
