white patches on the silage bale

raher1

hi

how are ye? a contractor baled some round bales of silage. it was ideal conditions. the weather was dry. when i opened the bales about six months later the bales have white fungus patches on them. two of them where a soild mass of silage and fungus which had to be thrown out. its found two layers down. what is causing this fungus, is it dangerous.

Danzy

Listeria.

Dangerous to feed to Sheep, think it is a problem for in calf cows and very young animals.

Older ones often tear in to it.

Figerty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348189#Comment_118348189

Have had a little of that for years, never had a problem with cows, they tend to ignore it, and when the bale dries out it more or less disassappears.

I used to have more of it when I stacked the bales on the flat end. Now I leave the bales on their sides for feeding and there is none this year.

Danzy

https://www.fas.scot/article/listeriosis-alert/

Donald Trump

Happens more on high DM silage I think. Never see it here anymore, even for very dry silage, since we started using 6 layers of wrap rather than 4

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348210#Comment_118348210

Question on bales. If bales are brought on a bale trailer and left there for a couple days before feeding, with prong spikes open on them, can that create the listeria or is the damage done by that stage?

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348275#Comment_118348275

Done by that stage. It happens at the early fermentation stage.

patsy_mccabe

I had a yearling heifer here with Listeriosis about a week ago. First case ever here. Started with a small bit of white froth coming from the mouth. The next day her mouth was open and she was moving her lower mouth side to side as if her teeth were at her. Later that day she was swinging her head back and up to one side, like she was in mad pain. I had to inject her with Pen Strep & Engemycin for a few days. Touch wood she seems to be ok now. Silage is extra dry.

This has been a mad year here with sick cattle.

raher1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348226#Comment_118348226

its badly packed silage bales that help it to grow and spread.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348971#Comment_118348971

Kinda but it is probably not the contractor at fault.

Its that the dry matter in the silage can be so high that it doesn't cure properly and allows the listeria to grow in the bale.

Seen it here in very tight bales, there is enough fresh air in the tightest bales

mickdw

Always see the odd bale here with that.

Take no notice. Cows don't mind it and have not seen any sickness.

raher1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348275#Comment_118348275

its about they how they are left standing up right before us.

Danzy

Why do lads put bales stacked on the flat, Seems a regional choice.

mickdw

We sit them single layer flat end down

Fine Day

Very rarely see it now. I think since our contractor changed from net wrap to plastic wrap on bale. I think its a great job to reduce mould. I definitely agree a well chopped/packed bale is the key to good silage along with the weather and the quality of grass. Often difficult to get this right in Ireland. The Dry April/May made my first cut Abit stemmy from what I'd like. It's still good but be better with more leafy grass.

_Brian

We see a wee bit of it but never pass any remark of it, cattle don’t seem to care.

fed some bales with wrap rather then net and they were the best bales I’d ever seen, it’s a way better technology amd the way forward.

minerleague

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348275#Comment_118348275

Listeriosis is caused by soil contaminated silage, not saying mould caused by holes in plastic ( cats here cause damage to edge of stack every year ) doesn't cause harm. Funny thing is any grey or bluish patches are taken off bales in shed but full bales given on outside farm in round feeders and haven't seen any harm

Injuryprone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223554/white-patches-on-the-silage-bale

I think they say if you take the plastic off the bale 24 hours before you intend to feed it, then the mould will be largely gone and the danger also

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352672#Comment_118352672

Soil contaminated silage? Ours are left on the bellies and holes patched as best as possible yet seems to be awful lot of mould.

patsy_mccabe

I'm certain my case of Listeriosis was caused by soil contamination. Local guy cut it for me and cut sods everywhere on the dips and mounds in the field.

K.G.

Sometimes I wonder about tedding and raking in our climate. Often times particularly rakes have to work hard to clean ground that can often be quiet wet

Sligoronan

A little off topic. I am useing very dry silage bales almost haylage. Ground that was baled late summer and got it for feck all. Not great quality but need to get it eating up out of the way. I would have a month supply. Anyways cows not happy with the menu any thoughts on pouring some molasses on it.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118364018#Comment_118364018

Molasses helps with preservation by raising the sugars when you cut it. I don't think it would do much for you now. Well it might act as a supplement but it won't affect the silage itself directly

greysides

Just to clear up a few misconceptions. The linked article in post #4 doesn't spell it out very well. The white/blue/grey patches are mould. Mould likes the environment the article talks about and grows well. Unfortunately, Listeria also like the same conditions and IF present (cutting in wet conditions causing mud to get onto grass and into bales, cutting too low, etc) then it can multiply and cause problems. Pit silage very rarely has this problem.

That article also misses out the biggest problem caused by Listeria in the silage bales... Silage Eye, which is often called, erroneously, Pink Eye. Happens when the Listeria gets into the eye due to grass flicked around by neighbouring cows eating or due to burrowing in the bale selecting the tastiest bits. It rapidly goes deep into the eye and, IMO, is best treated by injection.

One word of caution, while I've never heard it mentioned as a concern, Listeria causes food poisoning in humans when in milk or cheese, so just be a bit mindful of that when dealing with affected animals.

greysides

https://uk.ecosyl.com/silage-advice/132-are-listeria-a-problem-with-bales#

Listeria can survive in low numbers in silage but will not multiply so long as air is excluded and the pH value remains below about pH 5. In the presence of air, however, they can survive at much lower pH values. If a lot of air gets in moulds will grow causing the pH value to increase and providing ideal conditions once again for Listeria to grow and multiply.

Listeria are more likely to survive and grow in big bale silage than clamp silage. This is the result of a number of factors. The low density and high DM content associated with baled silage results in a slower, less extensive fermentation. In addition, bales have a very high surface area to volume ratio, exposing more of the silage to air if the bag or wrap becomes damaged. Listeria growth is usually associated with the outer layers of bales where they can be present in very high numbers, especially if the silage is visibly mouldy.

crackcrack30

Where can you get the netting to cover the bales (keep out cats and crows)

I have a bit in almost every bale (a pain forking it out) ... the thing is ...bales stored on bellies & its always on the top of bale, so blaming cats...