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.”
Up to 50% of this year’s first cut silage crops have still to be cut across many parts of Northern Ireland, according to Provita’s Tommy Armstrong.
“The very changeable weather of recent weeks is the obvious culprit,” he said.
“The good news is that a return to warmer and drier conditions is predicted during the first few days of next week.
Provita has unveiled the results of recent tests in Northern Ireland which confirm the benefits of its new inoculant Advance+.
“We tested 28 random samples of first cut silage made at the end of May this year. Fourteen of these were treated with the new Advance+ inoculant: the others were untreated, the grass was placed in mini silos, compacted and then left to ferment. The samples, which were subsequently sent to AFBI Hillsborough for analysis, were taken fifteen and thirty days after fermentation had commenced,” explained Provita’s Tommy Armstrong.
“And the results that are now back with us are truly astounding in terms of the benefits delivered by Advance+. “
One thing we are not blessed with in Northern Ireland is predictable weather. We have just ‘endured’ one of the coolest and wettest spring seasons on record. However, we could all be complaining about a drought before the end of June, such are the vagaries of our climate. Grass silage is the most important forage … Read more