The Rural Voice, 1990-04, Page 78GSM
DRY/WET FEEDER
• Reduces stress
• Better days to market
• Reduces water wastage
• Designed to handle high
moisture or dry feed
• Adustable dispenser for
mash and pellets
• Easily adjusts without use
of tools
• All high grade stainless
steel construction
• Complete with push type
drinker and 36" galv. pipe
• Drinker height adjustable
• Hopper capacity of about
50 lbs. of feed
SOUTH HURON AGRI-SYSTEMS
R. R. 2, Crediton
Phone Bert at 519-234-6403
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WE HAVE
THE PART YOU NEED
WHEN YOU NEED IT
We know that when you need a part, you want it fast.
You can count on us to stock a large inventory of parts
for that very reason. And a more extensive parts supply
is just a phone call away, thanks to the Ford New
Holland parts distribution network. If you want fast
parts service, depend on us.
LOGAN FORD
TRACTOR SALES LTD.
Hwy. 8
East of Mitchell
519-348-8467
Corner Hwys. 7 & 19
St. Marys
519-284-1778
74 THE RURAL VOICE
WHAT'S NEW
INOCULANTS USE
NATURAL BACTERIA
When Dave Thomas started working
for Pioneer five years ago, academic
researchers still figured silage inocu-
lants were something like "snake oil."
But since then, Thomas says, univer-
sities are showing a growing interest in
trials of the inoculants, and farmers have
been coming back for more after trying
the products themselves.
"It's taken a long time for silage
inoculants to win acceptance," Thomas
says. "At the same time, advances have
been made in the development of effec-
tive inoculants."
Pioneer now offers Sila-Bac 1155
for alfalfa hay and 1186 for high -mois-
ture corn as well as Sila-Bac 1174 silage
inoculant.
Thomas stresses that the inoculants
are a natural product. "Mother Nature
has probably made all the kinds of bac-
teria we need. We've just got to find
them." In fact, he says, inoculants are
used in such small doses that researchers
were skeptical about their effectiveness.
Making a silage inoculant, Thomas
says, is rather like making wine or
cheese. "You don't need many of the
bacteria to have an effect."
"Essentially," he adds, "all we're
doing is taking sugar and making lactic
acid. The lactic acid is what pickles the
silage, or lowers the pH."
Pioneer's first step in developing its
inoculant, Thomas says, was to take
samples from well-preserved silage and
profile the organisms. Then the samples
were selected for certain qualities, such
as efficiency of fermentation.
"Some of those organisms will pro-
duce lactic acid much more efficiently
than others. What researchers have
done is look for those bacteria on the
actual silage. Then we culture them out
and keep them alive, and then we can
apply them to a silage at a much higher
rate."
And the latest generation of inocu-
lants, Thomas says, not only makes
more efficient use of silage, but in-
creases the digestibility of the Acid
Detergent Fibre in the silage.
Trials show varying results, but a
typical result is a gain of 20 pounds of
pork per ton of silage feed when inocu-