Actions that can improve quality of baled silage

“By putting into action at least some of the following ideas, the quality of your baled silage could be optimised, minimising losses at each stage and so maximising the value of the forage crop,” she says.

When to harvest

Ideally, grasses should be cut at no more than 50 per cent ear emergence when D-values, protein and sugar levels are high.

Delaying cutting by just four days past optimum can reduce the energy by up to 0.5MJ ME per kg DM. If 13kg of big bale silage is fed at 40 per cent DM, this would be an energy deficit of 2.6MJ per cow per day, or a ‘loss’ of 10,000 litres over a 200-day feeding period for 100 cows in milk, or around £2,400 at 24ppl.

How long to wilt?

The aim of ensiling is to maintain as much of the nutritional goodness of the grass within the silage. For big bales, this is best achieved by rapid wilting to an optimum of 3-55 per cent DM.

This minimises protein breakdown and effluent production. Wilt for a maximum of 24 hours in good weather to achieve a minimum 25 per cent DM.

Dry matter matters

The higher the dry matter content of the forage going into the bale, the fewer bales you need to wrap and handle, thus reducing costs and time. DM losses during ensiling can account for up to 8 per cent in big bale silage or 22 per cent from a clamp.

Using an additive

Additives can improve silage quality and reduce the risk of aerobic spoilage. Using a good quality produce in baled silage with a DM of 30 per cent and above will help to improve fermentation, inhibit mould and reduce effluent.

How many layers?

Wrapping with more layers costs more ‘up front’ but pays for itself. Applying six layers instead of four costs an extra 71p per bale, however the benefit could be an extra £1.37 in terms of nutrients for meat and milk.

What colour film?

Green and white film keep bales cooler, promotes better fermentation, reduces spoilage and improves silage quality.

The cost of DM loss

Reduce losses caused by wind, heating, spoilage and refusals. Losses due to fermentation of sugars during the ensiling process are very significant but hard to visualise. Valuable grass nutrients disappear and need to be replaced with another energy source - using wheat, for example, can add considerable cost (see table).

Using these figure, reducing losses from 20 per cent to 10 per cent is worth £4 per tonne when the DM is replaced with wheat.

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