Time to get serious about silage quality

Grass silage is expensive to produce and when a land charge is factored in, first cut silage is now costing in the region of €300 per acre to grow and ensile. According to Agritech

Sales Director John Kenny, it is therefore most important that the desired level of silage quality is achieved as often as possible.

“With lengthy dry cow periods no longer in existence, quality silage is an essential requirement for the freshly calved cow as it will help support early lactation milk yield and allow the cow to return to cyclicity as quickly as possible.

“For beef cattle, a daily liveweight gain of 0.6 kg is considered the optimum for winter performance where the animals are returning to grass in the spring. Quality silage will again play a key role in achieving this growth level,” states John.

Quality silage starts with quality grass cut at the correct growth stage. Every silage field which contains a high proportion of perennial ryegrasses will have a sward of 80 DMD around the middle of May. Once fields go past this, they lose an average of 3 DMD units per week, with this loss increasing to 6 DMD units in poor weather or lodged crops.

“The application of a proven silage additive at ensiling is a very important part of securing as much of the quality in the winter forage as possible. It speeds up the preservation and retains more of the feed value within the pit, in addition to retaining more actual silage in the pit,” says John.

Extra silage retained

Agritech’s GrasZyme Sugarboost Forage Additive has long proven itself as an effective silage preservation aid. The unique technology used in the additive has been scientifically proven to reduce unnecessary plant breakdown and ensure reliability even in difficult low-sugar conditions.

Independent trials have shown that GrasZyme Sugarboost reduces ensiling dry matter losses by 6.1% and in a 500t clamp, it also retains an extra 30 tonnes of silage. This extra silage retained will alone cover the cost of the silage additive.

Improved animal performance

Having undergone numerous trials on dairy and beef farms throughout Ireland and the UK, the additive has also shown daily milk yield increases of 1 litre, a 0.09% increase in milk protein and 110 grams extra daily live-weight gain.

For more information, contact your local Agritech sales representative/distributor or visit www.agritech.ie