Trouw Nutrition has developed a new silage corrector product to help livestock producers counter some of the rumen problems associated with this season’s poor quality forages. The company reports that silages on many farms this winter have a "fruity" character, with chemical analyses showing lower energy levels and high concentrations of acetic acid and/or lactic acid. "Units with poorer quality silage are responding as usual by feeding additional concentrates, often in combination with a rumen buffer to counter rumen acidosis problems," reports Trouw Nutrition technical manager John Twigge. "However, this winter the buffer response time often seems to be greatly extended. Normally, we’d expect a response within seven days, but on some farms there has been little sign of improvement until 15-20 days post buffer introduction. "This suggests the problem lies less in the simple neutralisation of excess rumen acid, but more to do with the colonisation of the rumen with a particularly aggressive bacterial population that is producing large amounts of acid. It appears the rumen really is a bacterial battleground this winter." "What seems to be happening this year is that the rumen micro-organisms which produce lactate (such as Streptococcus bovis) are gaining the upper hand over the lactate users (such as S.ruminantium and M. elsdennii.) But where this is happening, the introduction of the new Maxcare Silage Corrector product will be a useful tool to help producers right the balance," John Twigge says. Maxcare Silage Corrector is fed at 150g/cow/day, this product is a combination of live yeast – to increase lactate utilisation and regulate the rate of substrate fermentation – and rumen buffer to neutralise excess rumen acid.