Ray Mueller
Correspondent
MADISON
If the fermentation of high-moisture shelled corn in a storage unit is in jeopardy, a treatment with organic acids should provide relief against potential spoilage due to heating and mold growth. So says an advisory from the University of Wisconsin Extension Service on coping with this year’s high-moisture corn recently harvested or yet to be harvested.
The advisory lists the following conditions as being conducive to poor fermentation: moisture content of the corn being below 26 percent – unlikely to be a reason in many cases this year; a poor storage facility; slow removal of corn from the storage unit; a history of chronic heating or molding in the storage unit and the movement of high-moisture corn to a different storage unit.
In those cases, the treatment with an organic acid is highly recommended, the advisory indicates. It notes that the acids come in pure and buffered forms.
Pure acids include propionic, acetic, citric and benzoic. The buffered group includes calcium in addition to the sodium salts that are in the four pure acid types. Ammonia, the ammonium salts in the propionic and acetic, is another ingredient choice for the buffered organic acids, which come in dry and liquid formulations.
The buffered organic acids are safer to handle and less caustic to equipment, the advisory points out. It recommends selecting a product made up primarily of propionic acid and with a high percent of active ingredient. Liquid products are the preferred choice because they can be applied more evenly, it adds.
Two philosophies or outlooks, apply in the use of an organic to preserve high-moisture corn, the advisory indicates. For full preservation – a time span of one year, the recommended application rate is 10 to 20 pounds of active ingredient per ton of corn while the alternative is to apply at only 2 to 5 pounds per ton as a way to prolong the aerobic stability of the corn at feedout.
The lower rate is designed to control the growth of yeasts at feedout, the advisory states. It explains that some yeast species eat the lactic acid which is created during normal fermentation, thereby greatly increasing the chance for heating and molds. The value of propionic acid is that these yeasts cannot eat it, the advisory explains.
Low applications of organic acids do not support full preservation of the corn if the conditions are not right for its normal fermentation, the advisory warns. If a low organic acid rate is applied, it should be supplemented with an inoculant to assure adequate fermentation of the corn, it adds.
Regarding the feeding of organic acid-treated corn to livestock, the advisory reports that research has not documented any differences in palatability, intake or animal performance compared to corn which underwent normal fermentation.
