Silage Advisory Centre

According to Dow's recent market report into the baled silage sector in the UK and Ireland, more and more farmers are now using baled silage as opposed to clamps or pits, with the decline of silos continuing unabated. A survey taken out as part of the preparation for the report shows that 98% of respondents baled at least some of the grass they ensiled in the 2006 season, with two-thirds baling a substantial proportion (81-100%)(2).

It's clear that farmers are increasingly turning to baling silage as it provides a number of advantages, including: the high quality fodder it generates; the flexibility brought to handling and feeding systems; the limited capital expenditure required and low losses during production and storage.

Additional benefits of baling

However, an additional, key benefit of baled silage is now becoming increasingly apparent - its potential as a ‘grassland management tool'. Baling silage gives farmers increased options to maximise the utilisation of grazed grass whilst producing high quality baled silage for use either as a buffer feed when grazed is limited or for high-yielding dairy cows that need very high quality grass silage.

Baling also enables ‘rapid harvesting' when the weather is against large scale clamp production. Recent wet summers in the UK have highlighted the difficulties of setting aside two weeks during the summer to cut, harvest and ensile first and second cut silage crops, a situation made more challenging by the scarcity of contractors resulting in windows of opportunity being lost. Baling silage from daily harvestable areas in a "smash and grab raid" enables a harvest of easily storable, high quality silage from a crop that could otherwise be ruined.

The system also allows farmers to maximise use of their land - even small, awkward spaces can accommodate the equipment required to produce big bale silage, meaning no part of the farm goes to waste.

A new approach to grassland management

The system does require a new, rotational approach to grassland management. Farmers in the UK commonly seek to take three or in some cases four cuts of silage. Lowland farms in the Cheshire Plain, Somerset Levels and Shropshire routinely take three cuts, whilst the high altitude of many beef farmers often results in a single cut.

The first cut, taken when the grass is at its nutritional best is almost always ensiled in clamps or pits. Once the clamp has been closed to allow fermentation to begin, ideally it should not be opened until animals have been housed for the winter; second and third cut grass cannot simply be added as it becomes available.

At times when grass growth is rapid, supply often outgrows grazed requirements. Many farmers "top" this over-supply with a mower to maintain grass quality. However, in the current economic climate machinery and fuel usage needs to be fully justified; topped grass (and the money spent on it) is generally wasted.

If rather than wasting this surplus forage a paddock is taken out of the grazed rotation and set aside for baled silage production, then not only can grazed grass utilisation be maximised, but high quality silage can be produced in convenient bale sized quantities for feeding when grazed grass supply is insufficient. It can also be used when a small number of livestock are housed early and opening a large silage clamp is a last resort.

An additional benefit of this approach is that provided excessive nitrogen fertilizer is not applied, silage can be harvested earlier than the standard six week re-growth period if grazed becomes short.

Room for alternatives

Forage options from such a system do not need to be limited to grass, of course - for example, introducing legumes such as clovers brings benefits to rotation, with the resulting enhanced soil fertility making other crops in the cycle more profitable.

Significant savings in fertiliser costs are also possible because legumes ‘fix' their own nitrogen. Research summarised in Dow's market report suggests that dairy farmers currently applying 200kg N/ha/year in fertiliser could be able to cut out nitrogen applications altogether without a reduction in forage yield if they put white and red clover in their grazed and silage leys respectively.

Additionally, such alternative forage crops offer nutritional benefits over grass silage, as the high proteins they contain reduce the need for expensive bought-in protein supplements. There is also evidence to suggest adding legumes such as red clover to a silage mix can dramatically increase milk yields. Recent studies at IBERS into big bale silage fed to dairy cattle demonstrated that a 50:50 mix of grass and red clover on a dry matter basis resulted in a yield 3.7 kg/day higher than a grass only silage diet.

  Flexible and economical

There are additional economic benefits to the baled silage option - the bales are highly portable and saleable if there is surplus. Bales are also easily moved about the farm or to off-farm locations where animals are being housed temporarily, reducing labour time and costs.

Ultimately, using baled silage as a grassland management tool results in a highly flexible system which offers the potential to reduce costs whilst maximising yields and financial returns. It enables farmers to make the most of grazed - which remains the cheapest feed on farm ranging from £30 to £50/t DM - whilst at the same time providing further opportunities for silage use when it is most needed. With silage providing the cheapest winter feeding option at £60 to £120/t DM, that is an important economic consideration for today's farmers.

End

Dr Dave Davies is Silage Researcher and Agricultural Outreach Manager at The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS).

(1) Figures taken from The Dow Chemical Company's report into the Baled Silage market in UK and Ireland - A Survey of Current Practices, Trends and Opportunities, February 2009.

 (2) Survey among 211 farmers and agricultural contractors in the UK conducted in 2007 by Dow Europe GmBH with Farm Contractor magazine.