RWN News Digest

1st Cut Silage - Beating the Weather

By 20th May the D-Value and protein level of most grass silage crops has already past it's best and is falling. This is made worse by the risk of  crops going down. In the case of lodged crops we can expect a decline of  1.5 units per day as the bottom of the wet crop deteriorates.

Too often farmers wait for the weather and cut heavy, wet, low quality crops in June, still in poor weather conditions. The result in many cases can be a 30% increase in winter feed bills as very mature silages fail to perform. We know that a 20% dry matter, 11.5 ME silage cut early, will perform far better than a 9.5 ME, mature, high fibre, low digestibility, low protein silage cut later.

Once the crop reaches optimum D-Value cut as soon as the ground is travelable. If the weather is right, do not be tempted to wait for the crop to bulk up. Use a good quality biological inoculant additive. 

The additive used should ideally be a freeze dried multi-strain bacterial inoculant / enzyme combination which applies at least 1 million bacteria / gram of grass. Do not be tempted to wait until the weather is perfect, the crop is deteriorating. Cutting at the first opportunity will reduce pressure on grazing next month and allows a bigger, better quality 2nd cut. 

Pick the day, and mow mid-morning, after the crop has blown out. Leave a wide swath behind the mower and go for a rapid wilt. 2 hours after mowing, the stomata on the grass leaves close and wilting rates drop by 75%. If the weather is not conducive to wilting pick up the same afternoon after a short wilt. Once mown, if it rains continue picking up. 

Always use an additive. 
With cash flows tight, many farmers have resisted spending additional money on an additive, effectively ignoring all the research of the past 20 years

The case for using a modern inoculant enzyme biological additive is proven beyond all shadow of doubt. Irrespective of weather conditions an additive will give a milk yield response of around 1.5 litres of milk together with improvements in milk quality, body condition and fertility, as well as 4% - 5% more silage in the pit and a reduction in effluent. The result at current milk prices is at least a 5:1 return on investment.

The cost of not spending £1000 on a silage additive, 
equates to around £5000 lost profit

For silages below 25% dry matter we recommend using a well proven, high spec, multi-strain inoculant, enzyme combination product such as Gold Shake 50. Gold Shake 50 applies 1 million cfu's per 1g of grass of 5 strains of broad spectrum bacteria in conjunction with 3 enzymes. It is particularly important that the strains of bacteria used in the inoculant are capable of utilizing the full spectrum of grass sugars including fructans and exhibit a rapid fermentation throughout a wide range of pH, temperature and forage dry matter conditions. This will ensure that the fermentation losses are minimal and that the silage conserved is as close as possible in feed value to the original forage crop at the time of harvest. 

Good silage making practice requires attention to detail especially when having invested in a silage additive. Especially important are good hygiene, rapid filling, good consolidation, sheeting and face management. High quality inoculant treated silage has more feed value and is worth more than untreated silage. Pay attention to detail. Remember that the fermentation cannot begin until the air is out of the clamp. 

Good consolidation by effective rolling of no more than 6 inch layers of forage during the clamping process is essential if mould and yeast activity and poor stability  is to be avoided. Avoid overfilling silage clamps. Ramps and shoulders should never have a slope greater than 30o. Sheet as soon as the clamp is filled using Silostop oxygen barrier sheets and nets. The Silostop system is far more effective than using either black plastic or clear polythene film. 

When ensiling forages greater in dry matter than 25%, it is important to use a specialist high dry matter additive. Most commercial inoculants rely on lactic acid to preserve the forage. It is now well established that lactic acid is broken down easily by lactate assimilating yeasts, which feed off it as an energy source when silages start to heat. This make lactic only inoculants unsuitable for forages over 25% dry matter. 

There are a number of products available which contain chemical preservatives such as potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and sulphites designed to control heating but these have their own problems. Consequently we now recommend the use of Gold Shake Premium or Gold Shake Arable when clamping medium to high dry matter grass silage, big bales, maize and arable silages, fermented wholecrops and crimped cereals. Gold Shake Premium and Gold Shake Arable are state of the art inoculants which are designed to give improved face stability compared with lactic acid based products. 

These additives are well proven, more cost effective than most other products available and have proved highly effective over a number of years. They have the added advantage that they are equally effective in treating very wet forage down to 15% dry matter.  

Silage probably accounts for half of the diet of your dairy herd. 
Quality is important and well worth the investment. Use an effective additive and give it the attention it deserves

Working together for a more profitable future

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