Reap the rewards of wholecrop on farm

While it may be tempting to sell cereal crops due to the high prices they are currently fetching, putting these crops into the clamp as wholecrop could offer a better return, by reducing the amount of purchased feed required next winter.

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The hike in input costs means that many producers are looking to get more out of their grass this spring and grazing earlier than usual. This could result in smaller silage crops, risking a potential shortfall. With purchased feed costs skyrocketing, this could be very costly to make up and alternative homegrown solutions should therefore be considered.

Wholecrops could prove a very viable option, especially if maintaining milk solids is also a priority. They offer a good feed value – being extremely digestible, potentially high in protein and a good source of fermentable starch energy – reducing the need to plug the nutritional gap with costly purchased feeds.

The crops high straw content can also help balance a highly digestible grass-based diet with physically effective fibre. This is particularly useful if your silage is more acidic, as it helps to balance the acid-load and slow down the rate of passage through the rumen.

When it comes to choosing a crop, barley, triticale and oats are good options. Wheat also offers a good feed value but tends to be a more expensive crop to grow. If a boost in protein is needed peas or beans are good to consider.

One important thing to remember is that cereal grown for wholecrop should be treated the same as if it was been grown for combining with all the care and attention to ensure the quality of the crop.

Top tips on making wholecrop silage​

There is generally a reasonable window of time for making wholecrop and producers often wait until first and second cut grass silage has been analysed before deciding when to harvest, as this will give a better picture of the quantity and quality of grass silage available for winter rations.

For example, if the quantity of grass silage is limited but the quality is high, producers might wait for the wholecrop to mature to get more material that is higher in fibre and starch. On the other hand, if silage quality is below average,
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cutting wholecrop sooner at a lower dry matter to achieve a higher quality forage, may prove the better option.

The nutritional value of wholecrop varies depending on the type of crop as well its maturity (Table 1). This makes wholecrop a very flexible crop, allowing producers to pick a crop that best suits their feed requirements. High starch wholecrop can be used as a concentrate, with the straw content helping balance the inclusion of highly digestible grass silage. Alternatively wholecrop with a higher protein content can be used to replace a proportion of the purchased protein.

Table 1: Harvesting guide for wholecrop cereals



Requirement for a crop-specific inoculant​


When it comes to ensiling wholecrop, the combination of higher dry matter and straw means it can be harder to compact and ensile. If it is not compacted properly,there will be a higher risk of oxygen pockets within the clamp, which means a higher risk of yeast and mould activity, increasing the likelihood of spoilage in the clamp.

Preventing spoilage and waste is important in any year, but especially this year due to the very high feed prices, increasing the value of forage. On average, 15% of what goes into a clamp is lost before feeding out and so it is crucial to use an inoculant that is specifically designed to inhibit yeast and mould activity.

Traditional forage inoculants only provide acidifying bacteria that produce lactic acid, but this does not work for wholecrop silage, as the physical nature of the crop predisposes it to spoilage
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during feed out.

Instead, our wholecrop forage inoculant, Magniva Platinum Wholecrop, utilises two categories of bacteria, providing a unique combination of antifungal bacteria L. hilgardii CNCM I-4785, plus L. buchneri NCIMB 40788, and acidifying bacteria P. pentosaceus. This combination of bacteria produces lactic, acetic and propionic acid which leads to rapid acidification during ensiling, as well as the stabilisation of the silage during feeding.

Adding the incorrect silage inoculant to wholecrop can potentially lead to challenges during feed out. There are yeasts that use lactic acid as a nutrient source, this means if the silage contains a lot of lactic acid, but small amounts of antifungal fermentation acids the silage may heat more rapidly.



 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.9%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.2%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.3%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

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

    Votes: 6 3.3%

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

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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/
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