One of the most common questions around silage making time is, how many tonnes per acre are there?
Provita’s Tommy Armstrong suggests the following method.
“Silage yield can be assessed very easily by simply weighing the actual quantity of grass cut from a half metre by half meter quadrat.
“When doing farm trials this year, I wanted to be very accurate in the application of our silage inoculant Advance+.
For 25 years farmers across Northern Ireland have trusted Provita’s silage inoculants to ensure the best possible silage quality. Advance+ is the only inoculant made in Northern Ireland and it’s designed to produce excellent results in the wildly varying conditions we experience here.
Its strains have been tested through the EU registration system plus it has been tested on farm in mini-silo and split-silo tests.
“We’ve tested it on farm from 18% to 60% dry matter, from 0.7% to 9% sugars on grass wholecrop and maize. Provided good management is also practiced its use results in better fermentation, stability and predicted animal performance,” commented Tommy Armstrong.
One farm who has used Advance+ since its launch in 2013 is Jim and Dean Wright from Portadown. They have targeted more milk from forage as an essential performance target.
Nathan Hall combines his job at Fane Valley Stores’ operation in Augher with milking 55 spring calving dairy cows. He started up the dairying business as a new entrant five years ago. The Fivemiletown man is committed to maximising milk output from grass and forage.
“The cows are currently averaging 7,000L and there is scope to expand the herd over the coming years,” he said.
Optimising output from grazed grass and silage are equally important for Nathan. He normally takes two cuts of silage annually.
Advance+ Silage Inoculant. Unique formulation combining EU approved lactic and acetic acid bacterial strains at guaranteed rate of 1.2 million cfu per g of forage. FREEPHONE 0800 328 4982
Given his herd’s predominantly autumn/winter calving pattern, making good silage is an absolute priority for Co Tyrone dairy farmer Cyril Maxwell. The Augher man is currently milking 130 cows, averaging 8,300L over 305 days
“The cows calve between October and April,” he confirmed.
“The aim is to produce maximum levels of high quality milk from forage. This includes silage and grazed grass. The cows are currently receiving 2½t of concentrate per lactation.
“Our current milk quality is good with butterfats averaging 4.23% and proteins 3.15%.”
“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.”
Second cut silage harvesting got underway this week with farmers and contractors reporting that grass swards have headed faster than anticipated.
“We started harvesting our own second cut a few days ago,” confirmed Gilford-based milk producer and grass contractor Mark Spence.
“The recent spell of hot weather, in tandem, with the rain of recent days has really boosted grass growth rates.
“On Wednesday of this we harvested 10 acres that had been cut the first time at the beginning of May. The field in question received the equivalent of 1¾ bags of 24: 0: 6 as soon as the first cut had been taken.
“I was truly surprised at how well it had grown on over the past number of weeks. The grass was cut with a mower conditioner, allowed to wilt for 24 hours and then picked up with a John Deere self- propelled harvester.
Co Armagh milk producer Dean Wright believes in having his silage operation made as scientific a process as possible.
“This approach gives me the best chance of having the greatest amount of control over what is a very complex process. Cutting date, weather and a host of other factors come into play when it comes to determining the quality of the silage that comes out of the pit come feeding time.”
Farmers and contractors across Northern Ireland are confirming that the return to changeable weather conditions has brought first cut silage making to a halt. But it’s not all bad news, as the rain will help bulk out those crops on which fertiliser was spread quite late in the season.
The break in harvesting will also allow farmers and contractors to get slurry out on fields that were cut earlier in May.