Silage - The Most Profitable Feed on the Farm.

Great Silage Makes Happy Cows - It's like feeding grass all year round. How to make the most palatable silage ever and save £1,000's on your feed bills.

Liz Russell ..."I am very passionate about this subject. I grieve at how much feed value is lost between the standing crop in the field and feed-out from the silage pit. All silage is expensive to make, the most expensive is bad silage. Silage-making is simply about minimising nutrient losses and waste".

OPTIMIZE

Optimize silage additive - this is primarily a silage stabiliser. Use on grass, whole crop and maize crops over 30% dry matter. Contains: Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus subtilis along with special sugars and a very specific enzyme which creates more sugar from the ensiled crop. Bacillus subtilis is a very powerful stabiliser killing undesirable bacteria. It is first class at limiting waste during fermentation and in doing so assists in maintaining protein levels in a form the cow needs for milk production. Bacillus pumilus has a unique action to stimulate yield. It stays in the silage until it is in the rumen where it produces digestive enzymes which assist in better utilisation of the whole of the cow's daily intake. Click here to find out more about Optimize

Good silage making Rules

• Cut grass just before heading day during good weather, if possible. Always leave 3" of stem so that the next crop re-grows quickly. Wilt or spread out to about 28% D.M.
• Ensile fast and compact evenly. Roll thoroughly before sheeting and get weight on sheet straight away. If an overnight break is needed try to drag a sheet over the pit to stop the compacted forage springing up and incorporating air. Air always causes waste.
• Try to make an extra cut, aiming for 5 - 6 week intervals. It may seem expensive on harvesting but there a re many litres more per cow per day in young early cut silage. This is how to make sure you save £'s on your feed bills.

REMEMBER: THE BEST GRASS CONTAINS MORE NUTRIENTS. THIS MEANS IT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO USE A RELIABLE INOCULANT. THE MORE EFFICIENTLY PRESERVED PROTEIN AND FME, WILL THEN MAKE MORE MILK FROM THE CROP YOU HAVE GROWN, SAVING £1000'S ON FEED BILLS.

Always use an inoculant - Why?

To drop the plant pH from 7 - 4 rapidly. This preserves the grass nutrients and only encourages desirable bacteria in the pit. A rapid biological drop in pH helps preserve the protein in a form very available to the cow, keeping it in a similar form to grass protein. The ensiled crop doesn't shrink as much if it is stabilised fast and contains more plant juices. Therefore more preserved nutrients are available at feed out. Not all additives contain yeast and mould inhibitors. This is usually an essential ingredient to give stability at feed out which improves intake, digestibility and utilisation of the silage. Solution - Inoculants for all forage types and weather conditions