3 ways a farmer is optimising silage management to cut costs

A focus on planning, harvesting and ensiling silage is helping a Wiltshire dairy farmer to optimise feed utilisation and keep costs down. 

Joe Carter believes you get from cows what you put in, and that performance is almost always related to forage quality.

The 300-head herd at Carpenters Farm in Chippenham is housed all-year-round and fed a diet of grass and maize silage. A multicut approach to silage-making is helping get more milk from forage, Mr Carter says.

See also: Guide to maximising fibre potential in grass silage

The result of his grassland management is a reduction in concentrate usage – down from 11.5kg a cow a day on the old system to 10.5kg now.

The average total purchased feed cost is about 9.2p/litre.

Silage quality has also improved – the average metabolisable energy (ME) content across all cuts increased from 10.24MJ/kg dry matter (DM) in 2016 to 11.4MJ/kg DM last year (see graphic below).

Below, Mr Carter talks through three areas he is targeting to further improve silage quality.

Planning

Forage is the single biggest input cost for the farm, so planning is essential to get the most from it, he says.

In 2018, the farm made the decision to increase silage cuts from three to five.

“Historically, we were a three-cut system and used to graze the cows. But they have been fully housed for six years now and we have upped our cutting frequency to five as a result of careful planning with our nutritionist Roy Eastlake.”

The transition towards a multicut system started a few years earlier and involved assessing and re-establishing grass leys across the farm.

This ensured they all were ready for cutting at a similar time to make the silaging process simpler.

At the beginning of each year, Mr Carter sits down with his nutritionist, agronomist and contractor to plan for the season ahead.

“We also start thinking about the following season at this point in terms of cropping, and what we are going to put where.

“Having everyone sat down together and bringing in lots of ideas has been really helpful.”

This planning meeting also involves booking in a provisional first-cut date with the silage contractor. The aim is for this to take place in early to mid-April, depending on pre-cut test results.

“It is actually quite easy from a management perspective to get a contractor sorted for the middle of April, because not many other people tend to be cutting grass then. But it is my belief that everyone should be cutting earlier.”

The planning then involves working backwards from this date to calculate how many units of fertiliser should be applied. The contractor uses wide flotation tyres to enable earlier travel, he adds.

Ahead of the planned cutting window, the pre-cut test is carried out. “This is a really useful tool and essentially puts into figures the benefits of cutting early,” says Mr Carter.

To confirm cutting, he aims for the following quality targets:

• Sugars: more than 15% dry matter (DM) or 3% fresh weight
• Nitrates: less than 1,000mg/kg fresh weight
• Neutral detergent fibre (NDF): 38-40%.

Harvesting

The Carters have strict protocols at harvest time. These include using an oxygen barrier film when sheeting up, and extra-large side sheets to ensure the clamp is well-sealed. Two tractors are run on the clamp, as well as a compactor, to ensure all air is removed and the grass is as compacted as possible.

“We have got a good relationship with our contractors, and they are fully on board with what our aims are, too, which makes the process much smoother.”

Once the clamp is completely filled, weighted nets and gravel bags are placed on top.

From this point, Mr Carter says they aim for subsequent cutting intervals of four to five weeks – again, testing before doing so. “The goal is to have a clamp full of consistent, high-quality silage to provide a stable high-quality diet for the cows over the coming year.”

Ensiling and feeding out

An inoculant is used during the ensiling process to preserve the nutritional value of the silage. The type of product depends on the dry matter of the grass when it is picked up. One provides aerobic stability in high DM (over 30%) grass silage, while the other aids fermentation in lower DM (up to 26%) silage.

Mr Carter says this is a “no brainer”. “The science is clear [and] the cost of an inoculant – in terms of cost a tonne when you are making silage – is minute compared with the return you get.”

Waste management is a crucial part of feeding out. The sheeting is only moved back every few days and the silage face is kept tidy to reduce spoilage and waste.

“A lot of wastage comes as a result of poor ensiling, too,” he says. “We overfilled a clamp of maize last year and now we are seeing a lot more wastage than we would like, which has proved just how important care at harvest time is.”

Clamps are also sampled monthly to keep an eye on quality. Grass silage is fed as a daily ration with maize silage and blends (see table below.

“The idea behind this is that we can ensure that the cow has the same mouthful of food – nutrition-wise – every day of the year, which helps with overall production consistency.”