JOHNSTON, Iowa — Silage in just seven days, from cutting to feeding, is now possible.

Kyle Whitaker says the new technology will allow producers to plan their supplies and adjust for yield and the feed market far ahead of anything they have been used to.

Whitaker, who works for DuPont Pioneer, debuted the new inoculant technology, which uses the L. buchneri strain of bacteria, at the company’s headquarters in Johnston, Iowa, earlier this month.

Bill Mahanna, a cattle nutrition researcher with Pioneer, said the technology cuts two to three months off the fermentation process, which minimizes dry matter losses and reduces spoilage.

“Its more palatable, and that means more (cattle) gains and feed efficiency,” he said.

The company also released Nutri-vail, a feed treatment that is applied at harvest and is said to improve fibre digestibility in corn or grass silage and haylage.

“(Nutrivail) reduces supplemental feeding, making more nutrients available to the animals from the (silage or haylage),” said Mahanna.

The new inoculant has been dubbed Rapid React and will be available in new versions of the company’s 11C44, 11G22 and 11B91 products.