Grass silage thoughts

TomB

Member
Location
Wiltshire
This

As for bulk, growing stem simply dilutes the digestible material in the sward. You wouldn't dream of trying to graze milkers on a three cut silage sward - so why offer it to them in fermented form?

Came home to father saying third week of may was the time for first cut(which often became June if there were weather/contractor issues) and then spending the following winter wondering why we had negative milk from forage. Took a few years to join the dots....
 

Sylution

Member
Location
Carmarthenshire
20190314_182801.png

Had a costings review recently. And this shows how my yeild from forage has changed recently. Been multicut for 3 years and I expected it to increase around 200litres with the multicut option, but it has decreased by that ammount. Some reasons are
1 - unkind weather for grazing last 2 springs.
2 - more heifers coming through

3 - me not suiting the system. Because I have been more likely to keep an extra field or 2 for silage than graze nights in early spring. Mostly because of being afraid of being short of winter fodder. When really I should trust the system and not worry at the empty looking silo after 1 cut.

4 - too much late season silage because the grass just keeps on growing. But that silage has less milk in it.
 

Blue.

Member
Livestock Farmer
View attachment 776636

Had a costings review recently. And this shows how my yeild from forage has changed recently. Been multicut for 3 years and I expected it to increase around 200litres with the multicut option, but it has decreased by that ammount. Some reasons are
1 - unkind weather for grazing last 2 springs.
2 - more heifers coming through

3 - me not suiting the system. Because I have been more likely to keep an extra field or 2 for silage than graze nights in early spring. Mostly because of being afraid of being short of winter fodder. When really I should trust the system and not worry at the empty looking silo after 1 cut.

4 - too much late season silage because the grass just keeps on growing. But that silage has less milk in it.

1 you cant beat the weather

2 your choice to have extra heifers

3 go back to 3 cuts

4 get some sheep to clean up
 

Sparkymark

Member
My experience is 1st cut has the most milk so my aims are to cut a maximum area possible 2nd to 3rd week of May. This for me means keeping the cows inside at nights until the aftermaths grow back.
This way means i only need small 2nd and 3rd cuts to fill the remaining space in the clamps, while the cows enjoy plenty of grazing for the rest of the summer.
 

Agrifool

Member
My experience is 1st cut has the most milk so my aims are to cut a maximum area possible 2nd to 3rd week of May. This for me means keeping the cows inside at nights until the aftermaths grow back.
This way means i only need small 2nd and 3rd cuts to fill the remaining space in the clamps, while the cows enjoy plenty of grazing for the rest of the summer.

Surely though if you weren't keeping cows inside til end of May then you wouldn't need as much silage in the clamps?
 

yin ewe

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co Antrim
What makes you think there's less bulk to be had from smaller, more numerous cuts?

No difference in bulk at all, but more expense having to cover the ground more often and we have rented more ground so that we could increase 1st cut acreage, meaning that we can keep the milkers on 1st cut from September until end of May.
Like you, we feed blocks in the passage and most years find that the cows will eat the 1st cut grabs first before they touch 2nd/3rd cut blocks, regardless of what the analysis says. Maybe easier problem for diet feeders to get round.
 

The Agrarian

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northern Ireland
Agreed it's more expensive to make, per ton. Less so per MJ of energy. Isnt renting more ground costing money too though? Not that I disagree with what you're doing. Feeding milkers costs money...

You'll agree that the wagon is very useful for more smaller cuts though? The cost is per ton rather than per acre, so it matters less what the weight of the cut is. That leaves buckraking, which is per ton too. Mowing is partly per ton and partly per acre, as less diesel is used on lighter grass. That leaves the raking cost, which is pretty constant regardless of bulk.
 

james ds

Member
Location
leinster
For the last 3 years, the silage made on this farm has been on a sort of multi cut system with 4 cuts clamped and 5th cut to tidy up and baled.
Whilst the silage has always analised well. The cows have not always milked anymore. And the 1st cut always deliveres the milk. Even if all other cuts are younger and look very lush.
This year I am thinking of reverting back to 3 cuts, and bulk the 1st up more, for mid to end of May harvest and not 1st week in May. My thinking is that I will have more quantity of the 1st cut which deliveres the milk, and would be more friendly to the rumen. Because I have cows shitting like they are on spring grass, all through the winter.
The hardest part might be to leave the mower in the shed if the weather is ideal at the beginning of May.
Also because the silage is young, It is liable to be very unstable at the clamp and feedout and heats up quickly. This was not such an issue when we were a 3 cut system. Except maby on the 3rd cut.

Just airing what my thoughts were during milking and volume washing sh1t in the parlour this morning.
For the last 3 years, the silage made on this farm has been on a sort of multi cut system with 4 cuts clamped and 5th cut to tidy up and baled.
Whilst the silage has always analised well. The cows have not always milked anymore. And the 1st cut always deliveres the milk. Even if all other cuts are younger and look very lush.
This year I am thinking of reverting back to 3 cuts, and bulk the 1st up more, for mid to end of May harvest and not 1st week in May. My thinking is that I will have more quantity of the 1st cut which deliveres the milk, and would be more friendly to the rumen. Because I have cows shitting like they are on spring grass, all through the winter.
The hardest part might be to leave the mower in the shed if the weather is ideal at the beginning of May.
Also because the silage is young, It is liable to be very unstable at the clamp and feedout and heats up quickly. This was not such an issue when we were a 3 cut system. Except maby on the 3rd cut.

Just airing what my thoughts were during milking and volume washing sh1t in the parlour this morning.
Are you chopping the grass too short , and not wilting enough . Sounds like it if the cows are piping out slurry.
 
View attachment 776636

Had a costings review recently. And this shows how my yeild from forage has changed recently. Been multicut for 3 years and I expected it to increase around 200litres with the multicut option, but it has decreased by that ammount. Some reasons are
1 - unkind weather for grazing last 2 springs.
2 - more heifers coming through

3 - me not suiting the system. Because I have been more likely to keep an extra field or 2 for silage than graze nights in early spring. Mostly because of being afraid of being short of winter fodder. When really I should trust the system and not worry at the empty looking silo after 1 cut.

4 - too much late season silage because the grass just keeps on growing. But that silage has less milk in it.
My experience is hold your nerve and the grass will provide at some point in the year. Since when did later grass at 30 day regrowth have a different analysis to grass cut in April? Our silages all analyse roughly the same (12+ me, 70+ D) so we expect same production- only difference being we tmr with wholecrop so less sorting etc.
 

The Agrarian

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northern Ireland
Have to be honest here. Not for the want of trying, but our DMs were all over the place last year, with only one of the four cuts on target. And it was down to the weather. First was perfect at about 30%. 2nd and was far too high at nearly 50. It so happened it was 31 degrees at the time, and.couldnt get it in quickly.enough. 3rd and fourth were about 22, because despite being kicked out, there was no real drying in the air in between the showers. The only blessing was it was not stemmy as well. Both the dry silage, andthe wet ones, would have been worse had they been stemmy too.
 

Sparkymark

Member
Surely though if you weren't keeping cows inside til end of May then you wouldn't need as much silage in the clamps?

If i had to shut up more fields for 2nd and 3rd cut, i would need to house my highs at nights all summer as they wouldn’t have enough ground.
At least this way i get to drop my feeder off for a few months and i go into the Winter with the clamps mostly full of 1st cut.
 

yin ewe

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co Antrim
Agreed it's more expensive to make, per ton. Less so per MJ of energy. Isnt renting more ground costing money too though? Not that I disagree with what you're doing. Feeding milkers costs money...

You'll agree that the wagon is very useful for more smaller cuts though? The cost is per ton rather than per acre, so it matters less what the weight of the cut is. That leaves buckraking, which is per ton too. Mowing is partly per ton and partly per acre, as less diesel is used on lighter grass. That leaves the raking cost, which is pretty constant regardless of bulk.

About 20 acres of our 1st cut is rented for 1 cut only so we have try to strike a balance between quality and quantity, as we are finished with that ground when the silage is cut. Usually it would be cut about a week after the rest of our grass, but still in May in a normal year. This was ground that I took specifically to increase our 1st cut area, so we could keep the milkers eating 1st cut for a longer period.

I definitely agree that wagons are suited to leafy grass- have done the stemmy thing and wasn't impressed, hatchet job getting it cut out of the clamp.
 

The Agrarian

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northern Ireland
About 20 acres of our 1st cut is rented for 1 cut only so we have try to strike a balance between quality and quantity, as we are finished with that ground when the silage is cut. Usually it would be cut about a week after the rest of our grass, but still in May in a normal year. This was ground that I took specifically to increase our 1st cut area, so we could keep the milkers eating 1st cut for a longer period.

I definitely agree that wagons are suited to leafy grass- have done the stemmy thing and wasn't impressed, hatchet job getting it cut out of the clamp.

$_86.JPG
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 78 42.9%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.6%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.5%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 5 2.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top