Can you look at my Sileage & Wholecrop analysis please

Should be concerned with the DM & ME values? Wrapped sileage and Wholecrop (peas and barley).
Nothing but well rotted muck put on. Grass - old lays. Organic

WHOLECROP
1614952532732.png


SILEAGE BELOW

1614952553021.png
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
Silage is only as good as grass thstc went in so fermentation is only part if the story. But should be looking at an me of nearer 12 off a goodish ley cut at the right stage
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
Your PH is two high on all samples which indicates poor fermentation or secondary fermentation
3.8 to 4.2 is good , is there
Holes in the bales
If you want the brutall truth the Protiens are terrible, sorry [emoji20]
 
Your PH is two high on all samples which indicates poor fermentation or secondary fermentation
3.8 to 4.2 is good , is there
Holes in the bales
If you want the brutall truth the Protiens are terrible, sorry [emoji20]

No thats fine being honest is fair. No holes in bales very careful of this. Smells really good though and they are munching it like mad.

Explain to me Proteins as I dont get it. High in wholecrop and poor in grass - why poor in grass?
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
No thats fine being honest is fair. No holes in bales very careful of this. Smells really good though and they are munching it like mad.
Thats what counts. What are your leys like . Is it like older meadow grass

Grasses now are indexed for performance, thats how these guys are getting the higher Energy and Protien
But enough said on that one [emoji3]
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
No thats fine being honest is fair. No holes in bales very careful of this. Smells really good though and they are munching it like mad.

Explain to me Proteins as I dont get it. High in wholecrop and poor in grass - why poor in grass?
I'm afraid the Protien is dreadfully low . Even the wholecrop is low considering it had peas mixed in
Its hard to comment on the reason why without seeing your pastures and knowing what stage it was cut

The D Value on the silage is very low so that suggest it was cut late or the grass in the ley us very poor
 
Last edited:

tepapa

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Wales
I wouldn't feed the silage to the ewes unless they're barren, definitely worth re testing incase the results are wrong and hope they are.
 

rusty

Member
My experience is with wholecrop wheat. I don't think your wholecrop analysis is too far out. Ph a little high but energy and protein about where I would expect. In my TMR for the cows the wholecrop usually feeds better than its analysis would suggest but this may be due to feeding 2 complimentary forages together driving higher intakes.
The grass silage is Showing very low energy and protein suggesting the grass was very mature when cut , however the intake factor is good so they will eat plenty of it which is more than half the battle.
 

clover

Member
Location
West Wales
Hi Chasing
Ignore a few of the previous comments. Yes, your grass has a low protein and ME - an indicator that the grass was very mature at ensiling, BUT the fermentation is ok. The dry matter is high which means you have a restricted fermentation. You don't need a low pH to ensure preservation of 66% DM grass. The ammonia values is low 👍 and you have more Lactate than vfa 👍, so nothing wrong with your ensiling system. Just need to ensile younger grass and/or reseed. From this analysis I don't think you will harm your ewes by feeding it, it has high intake value but it will just be a roughage supply and you will need to feed a lot if conc to compensate - get feeding advice from nutritionist.
How many bales did you sample? Need to sample at least 3-4, preferably using a corer to get a representative sample
 
The wholecrop is fine but cut a little on the drier side- probably no issue if wrapped in bales. The pH is high which mean the material will be less acidic and won't keep as long once opened. I bet stock love it though. No one really grows wholecrop for protein anyway.

Your grass silage I suspect was cut a bit late from very mature material and it was baled very dry. Again, this might not be such an issue with baled material but again it won't be as stable as more acidic silage. Again, stock will love it though. It does have lower ME and protein figures than expected but the material is more mature with lower D value than would be expected from silage.

The take home is try to cut it a bit earlier on in the cycle, perhaps look at reseeding some as well. Hard to know without looking at your land. It's always a balancing act with cutting: is there enough bulk there? Is the wholecrop fit to cut? Am I maximising the feed values from doing it? Will it be too dry or too wet. Last summer was pretty hot and dry for many people.
 

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