Cost to produce silage/acre

[Derrick Hughes]

You won't roll/harrow am acre for 5 quid
Any contractor mowing/tedding/raking for your figures, id love them to come and do mine.
You won't rent an acre for 125 either.
Best not to work out silage costs!

6 cuts is mega hard on the ground, I'd also question fert costs

With 6 cuts you should have some rocket fuel.
Are the costs not irrelevant tho? You have no alternative if you wish to milk cows

I suppose they are only relevant if you are renting land just to cut grass, if it's your own farm you have to cut the hedges and spread the muck so more of a fixed costs , I would only cost fertilizer and harvesting costs on my own land , things like dock spraying I have to do whatever

 

[vantage]

there are Brewers grains being sold out of St Austell, or Magor would be a possibility but i understand Forfarmers dont like taking too many grains over the bridge. the other option near you is northampton, there would most likely be a 5 in front of the price.
lets say your brewers are £55/tn delivered, that still £220/tn of dry matter tell me this winter you will find any feed that cheap. replace a 1kg of cake or blend with 4kg of brewers grains and see if it saves you money on the ration, what i guarantee will happen is your cows will thank you for it.

on that distance i would imagine maintaining supply in winter will be an issue, however with some farmers we find room for 2-3 loads to put away for the winter so when things do go wrong on the fresh loads they can dig into the pitted brewers, and thats how you guarantee yourself all year round brewers grains. Before anyone who reads this says they dont have the room.... there is always room if you are committed.

I get your point about price of DM, but you have to get it into the cow, for some farms with a feeder wagon ,not a problem, for others with limited facilities not so. I suppose you could clamp it and self feed? @Beef farmer , you tried it?

 

[Helpinghand]

I get your point about price of DM, but you have to get it into the cow, for some farms with a feeder wagon ,not a problem, for others with limited facilities not so. I suppose you could clamp it and self feed? @Beef farmer , you tried it?

that is a hurdle ive seen many times, i'll give you a couple examples that i know are working. A dairy in the east midlands who has no feeder wagon, high yielding who feeds grass silage in ring feeders and drops a bucket load on top of each and the cows have no issues getting through the lot. Another without feeder wagon, rolls out a bale of silage and grabs a bucketful and put them on top. There even a farmer who feed silage bales in ring feeders and put grains in troughs hanging off the gates.

i guess it comes down to the individual and what you are willing to accommodate.