silage additive

What a difference a day makes

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Farmers are being advised not to over wilt grass prior to ensiling during the current dry spell. Grass samples taken by Provita directly after cutting this week, and thereafter, following an 18 hour, 24 hour and 48 hour wilt have confirmed that dry matter values can increase dramatically if grass is left to wilt beyond a 24 hour period.

“Freshly cut grass samples had average dry maters of between 18 and 20%”, confirmed Provita’s Tommy Armstrong.

“This rose to a figure in the mid-twenties after a 24 hour wilt, and rose again to 40% when grass was left in the field for a further day.”

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Choosing the right silage inoculant for Northern Ireland conditions

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At this time of year farmers are bombarded with information on silage inoculants. Many products claim to be better than the next one, so how can they actually be compared? With so much variation between years and cuts, it’s very difficult to compare silage inoculants or even treated verses untreated crops.

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The chequered flag is about to be dropped on 2015 silage season

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Most weather forecasters are currently predicting pretty settled conditions right through to the middle of next week. So the coming days should give many farmers an opportunity to get on with their first cut silage making operations.

“The focus must be on making high quality forage over the coming days,” explained Provita’s Tommy Armstrong.

“A high percentage of grass swards are at the perfect stage for cutting. Yes, crops might be a bit light at the present time, given the cool conditions over recent weeks. But a large tonnage in the pit should not be the core objective for farmers at this stage of 2015.

“Most producers have a fair bit of silage from last year. And, given these circumstances, the real challenge is that of making high quality forages that will drive milk and beef performance levels next winter.”

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Conditions turn right for silage making

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Grass testing carried out by Provita on swards this week has confirmed that, in all cases, farmers could get on with their silage making operations with every expectation of making high quality forages.

“We test for Nitrogen, sugar and dry matter levels,” explained the company’s Tommy Armstrong.

“And it really is a case of what a difference a few days can make. On Tuesday of this week, most grass samples taken had a dry matter content of around 20%, increasing to 25% and 30% after respective 12-hour and 24-hour wilts. The strong wind earlier this week has dried out the grass and ground surprisingly quickly. I was able to determine this by walking several fields on several farms, I would encourage farmers to do this on their own farm.”

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Scope To Improve Beef Margins!

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“Research carried out by the Scottish Agricultural College confirmed that daily liveweight gain increases of up to 0.55 kilos will be achieved by feeding good quality silage with an ME of 11.2 as opposed to offering poor quality forages at ME of 9.6, cut approx. 2 weeks later” Provita’s Tommy Armstrong explained.

Detailed analysis carried out by Provita, using silage test results obtained this year and AFBI prediction equations, has confirmed the added benefit of using the company’s new Advance+ inoculant in store to beef finishing systems.

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Advance+ Excellent for Dry and Wet Conditions

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Independent trials submitted to the new EU silage additive registration and approval system have demonstrated excellent efficacy for Provita’s new silage inoculant Advance+.

It demonstrated excellent efficacy on easy, moderate and difficult to ensile crops, including grass, red clover, alfalfa, whole crop maize and corn cob mix. These trials were done on dry-matters from 24% to 69% and on sugars from 1.1% to 5.78%.

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‘Advance’ silage inoculant – independent trials confirm its many benefits

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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