It also can result in the growth of undesirable bacteria, which will break down protein and sugars into products less useful to the animal. Because corn is an ideal crop to ferment, the addition of inoculants does not provide the dramatic results that are observed in crops more difficult to ferment, such as grasses, small grains, and legumes. As Table 2 shows, the time course to a stable silage mass can be altered with the inoculant. It is important when adding inoculants to forages that they be distributed throughout the entire mass. Adding them at the blower for upright silos or on the chopped plant material before spreading in trench silos have been successful methods.
Inoculants come in both dry and wettable forms.
The wet form applied with a low-volume sprayer generally gives better distribution in the silage. With some inoculants, increased silage stability following silo opening has been reported, resulting in less feeding losses due to secondary fermentation and reintroduction of oxygen. This effect is generally attributed to retarded yeast and mold growth and its accompanying moderation of heat. Corn Silage Fermentation with Lactobacillus Plantarum Inoculation. XIV Grasslands congress.