Silage Advisory Centre

By Dr Dave Davies, Independent Silage Consultant for the Silage Advisory Centre

The unavoidable principle of producing silage is that it relies on the acidification of the crop to preserve the nutrients. Unfortunately the wetter the initial herbage, the more acid required to preserve the crop. After all, it is the acid concentration in the liquid that inhibits the plant and microbial degradation processes. Ultimately, the more water present (i.e. the wetter the crop) the more acid required. It is possible to make high quality silage in a wet season but this has to be done correctly and can be done a number of ways.