Silage additives to control aerobic instability of maize silage

Whole plant maize is generally easy to ensile. However, aerobic instability, characterised by heating and spoilage processes, remains a major problem on many farms. The underlying technological and microbiological reasons are outlined and examples are given for feed energy losses due to inadequate ensiling and unloading methods. Principles of development and succession of undesirable microbial populations during storage and feed out are explained and the potential of chemical and biological silage additives is discussed. Recent approaches of using heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria or compatible mixtures of bacteria and antimycotic, chemical compounds as stabilising agents are briefly summarised.