Wide variability in maize, grass and cereal crops, due to this season’s turbulent weather, could put extra pressure on silage strategies on dairy farms this winter, a forage expert is predicting.
Ensuring grass is cut at the right time to achieve the desired silage quality is paramount and leaving it late will result in a reduction in sugars, protein and digestibility.
For Shropshire farmer Mark Fitton, good silage is a key pillar for farm profitability. But it still has to be produced in a practical way.
Unwanted microbes in silage cause major losses in quality and quantity – not something you want if striving for more milk from forage. So how can contamination with these ‘bad bugs’ be reduced?
