Silage bales have a vital role to play on farms, not only for feeding in the winter, but for maintaining grass quality during high growth periods.
The last week or so has seen grass growth take off in most areas, with growth now well surpassing demand.
The only issue when this happens is controlling grass quality, as it can quickly get out of hand, which in turn creates problems.
During this period the most efficient way of maintaining grass quality or keeping covers under control is by making bales.
Grass quality
Keeping grass quality under control on the milking platform is vital during these high growth periods.
During this period the grazing rotation length is going to be quite short to ensure that cows are hitting paddocks at the right covers.
Peak production months for grass mean it can easily get out of control and quality can drop if it is not managed correctly.
This can result in a lot of poor-quality grass with a high amount of stem, which will then result in poor residuals being achieved on farms.
The milking platform needs to be walked at least once, if not twice a week during these periods of high growth.
The grass situation on farms can change very quickly during these periods
Bales
Paddocks with covers that have gotten too strong need to mowed and baled. Trying to graze these heavier covers should be avoided, as cows won’t clean them out and they will then need to mowed anyway.
This is effectively wasted grass, as you have spent time and money growing it for it be mowed and left to rot into the ground.
Most farms used a large majority, if not all of their silage reserves during the challenging spring period.
By making high-quality silage bales you have in essence, killed two birds with one stone.
You are keeping grass quality high on the milking platform as well as increasing the amount of feed in the winter feed budget.
The other options such as pre-mowing or topping are expensive and wasteful – there may be a time for topping late into the summer, but at this stage it should be avoided.
There is also a balance to be struck; if you are making too many bales, there is another issue at play that needs to be looked at.