What is important when viewing this data is the relative difference among treatments. Effect of preservatives on the aerobic stability 1 of corn silage under controlled laboratory conditions. 2 Data from the University of Delaware. DM corn silage 4 A commercial product containing buffered propionic acid as the primary active ingredient. All fermented feeds contain some yeasts and molds.
Yeasts make alcohol, so if silage smells like alcohol, many yeast are present.
This is especially true when silage is exposed to air during hot weather. Cold weather usually retards the growth of yeasts and molds so producers tend to see less of a problem with heating silages during the winter. Silage can be sent to a laboratory for analyses of yeasts and molds. However, caution should be taken to ensure that the sample is frozen, because yeasts and molds can grow rapidly while in transit and thus give a false reading. Here are some scenarios.