Positive silage results may help dairy farmers cut ration costs

There is an opportunity to lower ration costs by cutting cereals from dairy diets this winter on the back of good quality silage results.

Results of more than 4,200 first-cut samples and 1,400 second-cut samples analysed by Trouw Nutrition GB show marked improvements on the year, with almost half of the first-cut crops analysing at more than 11ME.

It is good news for cash-strapped dairy farmers as it offers them an opportunity to increase milk yields from first-cut forage by 2 litres a cow a day.

But there is an increased risk of acidosis.

See also: Read silage analysis results for 2014

John Allen, Trouw technical director, said: “In general there is a good opportunity for farmers to increase milk from forage this winter to reduce cereal use because available energy is high.”

First-cut results show:

• Dry matter is improved at 30.1% in compared with 27.9% in 2014
• Intake value is better at 10.2kg/day compared with 10.8kg/day last year
• ME average is 10.9 MJ/kg compared with last year’s average of 10.4 MJ/kg
• Sugars are also higher at 3.4% (2.4% in 2014)
• D value is up by 3.2% at 68%
• Rapidly fermentable carbohydrates are up from 167.7g/kg to 204.6g/kg
• Fibre has decreased from 214.4g/kg in 2014 to 188.7g/kg this year.

Second-cut results are similar to last year’s crop which held up better than first last year. Results show:

• Dry matter is 32.9% on average – similar to 2014
• ME is better at 10.6 MJ/kg up from 10.4 MJ/kg
• Intake potential has improved marginally from 10.9 kg/day to 11kg/day, which is expected to give 0.6 extra litres compared with 2014
• First-cut sugars are up from 3.3% to 3.8%.

However, Mr Allen explained higher sugar contents and increased levels of rapidly fermentable carbohydrate in combination with lower levels of fibre meant there was an increased risk of acidosis when feeding both first- and second-cuts.

He added: “The higher fermentable carbohydrates in this year’s grass silages is equivalent to feeding an extra 1kg/day of wheat compared with last year’s silage.”

As a result he said farmers must make sure they supplement rations accordingly to reduce the risk.

“You need to chose the ration wisely to balance acid loading diets with the right components.”

Mr Allen said 400 samples of wholecrop showed it would going to be a good balance for grass silage as it has a high-fibre index of 185.6g/kg and a low acid load of 45.4g/kg.

He also suggested using ground maize, crimped wheat and more fibrous energy sources such as soya hulls, which have low acid loads and are low in rapidly fermentable carbohydrate.