“As a contractor and farmer I regularly get asked what use a silage inoculant is, or do I need one?” commented Kenneth McIlory.
“A few years ago we saw the idea of using a mini-silo promoted by Provita for testing silage on farm. We were interested in trying the idea for our own curiosity and to be able to honestly answer other farmers.”
“The tests were very easy to do and the results were interesting, my son James and I farm together and he organised it.”
“We have compared most of the leading silage inoculant brands over the last 3 years. The most consistent finding is that the Provita Advance+ inoculant keeps coming out with the best results even against more expensive products and against untreated; it gave up to 3 liters more milk on a grass based system.” Commented James.
The father son team farm in Garvagh are milking 130 mainly British Friesian and Fleckvieh cows and keeping bull calves on to sell as stores or beef.
“Our main aim is to have long lasting easy to manage cows that give excellent milk solids, good yields and supply calves to the beef side of the farm. Having a supply of beef animals to sell was very useful during the recent downtown in milk price.”
“Having other enterprises is an important part of our plans to help deal with volatility in the milk price”
“To answer the question, if you want to get the maximum milk and beef from your grass then yes you need to be using a silage inoculant and based on our tests so far the best product to do this is Provita Advance+.” Concluded Kenith.