Silage continues to change during the fermentation process and this in turn changes the nutritional content. It might be time to think about Retesting Your Silage so that you can make adjustments to your feed rations if necessary.
Digestibility of starch can change and often increases over time in stored silage, especially in maize silage. An increase in the digestibility of starch means that there is more energy available in the gut for rumen microbes to use. The only way to determine if this has happened to your silage is to get it re-tested so that you can manage it. You may need to consider adding another fibrous feed source to counteract the increase in starch digestibility.
Remember, your feed test results are only going to be as accurate as the sample you submit for testing so it’s really import to get a representative sample. Use a long coring probe to reach into pit/bunker or using a hay corer for wrapped silage. Gather approximately 10-20 handfuls/core randomly from the bales or from a newly cut face of pit or bunker.
