A new silicone-based product line marketed by PolyExcel LLC will allow growers greater flexibility than what has previously been available on the market.

Winner of the 2010 Idaho Commercialized Innovation Award, the Nurturite product line revolves around using emulsified silicone to treat forages.

First Response allows a greater tolerance to moisture. It is used at the baler and can be applied as an alternative to propionic acid.

Producers are able to bale hay at higher moistures without the typical issues they would have with mold and heating.

The treated cost per ton is lower than propionic acid on high-moisture hay and the product is not corrosive and will not negatively affect the flavor or smell of the hay.

A second product in the line, Raincoat, is applied at the swather. Raincoat gives protection for your forage in the windrow as well as inside the bale.

There are a host of potential benefits received from treatment at the swather, including increased dry matter retention (for alfalfa), higher relative feed value due to increased leaf retention (for alfalfa), protection for alfalfa subjected to rain or dew and prevention of mold (all forages).

Jim Whittle from Gooding, Idaho, has used both products over the last couple years and credits them with allowing him to put up better hay in any conditions, especially adverse situations when he never would have even thought about baling previously.

“I have used First Response at the baler and baled alfalfa at very high moisture. The product did a very good job at controlling the mold and kept heating under control.

I’ve also used Raincoat on almost all of the alfalfa I have put up throughout the last year.

I’ve seen improvement in dry matter recovery and overall test on the alfalfa, and it has allowed me to put up good hay even during periods of heavy dew or rainfall.

Using a combination of these two products, I feel like I can get good results under almost any circumstance.”

The Nurturite line also includes an enzyme-based silage treatment, Silage PT, that gives the positive natural bacteria an advantage in the silage mass.

A silicone-based product for silage will also be available during the course of the season. It will have the benefits of the more traditional product – stability, shelf life and ease of use – but will also help to prevent mold and heating in the pit to provide even more consistent silage throughout the pile.

For more information on the Nurturite product line, please contact Eddie Toms at (763) 244-5972.  FG