Maxammon barley fattening ration.

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Do you need higher rates for higher moisture grain? And what moisture would be ideal?

About 18% ideal iirc, but can always add water if it’s drier. They used to say to add a higher rate if higher mc, but unsure of levels. Grain does have to be ripe though, not green, or it just gets hot iirc.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
at 17 or 18 after 2 weeks it smells quite nice actually dont need to take the sheet off either if done correctly.

jurys still out on palatability for lambs tho atm , might try rolling abit.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Am I right in thinking vermin/birds are less keen on urea treated grains? I'd think just getting away from the dust of rolled cereals (plus it's under a sheet rather than having to be stored dry) would be worth £30/tonne alone in my mind.

You’d still have to roll it for cattle. Lift in protein level pays for the product (& probably what they use to price it;)). Personally, i’d suggest the acidity buffering/safety of feeding aspect is probably one of the most valuable qualities, even if acidosis is often subclinical.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
On the vermin side, it certainly seems to be less attractive, but I think they get a taste for it. I have about 5t in the corner of the shed from last Autumn when I had to feed lambs. I was sitting on the tractor about 10 yards away a couple of days ago, talking on the phone, and I watched a rat trundling backwards and forwards from a pile of bales, helping himself to the Alkagrain.
Squirrels from the nearby wood seem to like it too. I have trapped or shot about a dozen there this Spring.
 

Half Pipe

Member
About 18% ideal iirc, but can always add water if it’s drier. They used to say to add a higher rate if higher mc, but unsure of levels. Grain does have to be ripe though, not green, or it just gets hot iirc.
Can it be spread out/cooled after the 2/3 weeks treatment?
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Can it be spread out/cooled after the 2/3 weeks treatment?

I’m not sure of the process, but the heat is produced because the reaction with the urea. Doesn’t work the same iirc, so it’s not just the heat, but the treatment not working properly either. I dare say a few greens in the sample would be neither here nor there, but a lot of greens would be a no no. Harvesting that early would mean the starch level was compromised too, so why would you. Better to treat damp, but ripe, grain if you're going Down the urea treatment route.
 

jamesy

Member
Location
Orkney
How many tons of grain will that treat?
C9BC6333-D1FD-42AB-B841-363C03156665.png
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Expanded and improved Sustainable Farming Incentive offer for farmers published

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Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer from July will give the sector a clear path forward and boost farm business resilience.

From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and The Rt Hon Sir Mark Spencer MP Published21 May 2024

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Full details of the expanded and improved Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer available to farmers from July have been published by the...
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