There is often an aim to cut silage crops early and harvest as high a quality silage as possible, but why is this such as important target?
Grass silage does account for a large portion of an animal’s feed on the majority of Irish farms and the quality of this silage does have a significant impact.
Although most dairy farmers will be hoping to produce as little milk as possible off silage, it does have a role to play particularly in the shoulders of year and for some during mid-summer.
The target should be to harvest silage that is higher than 72% dry matter digestibility (DMD) and this is generally achieved by harvesting in early May.
Quality silage
Put very simply, the higher the DMD silage that can be obtained on farms, the lower overall feed requirement.
Although you will be hoping to produce as little milk as possible from silage, there will be times when it is required; it is also important for feeding young stock that are still growing.
Using a weaning heifer as an example, heifers receiving a silage with a 66% DMD will need 1.8-2.2kg of high-quality concentrate feed to maintain the growth levels required.
A higher quality silage will see this feeding rate reduce or even potentially be eliminated.
For farms that are producing milk over the winter months, a higher quality silage can also result in a major reduction in the need for concentrates in the total mixed ration (TMR).
A certain level of concentrate feed will be required, but at a much lower rate if the DMD of the silage is high.
Budget
While having quality silage is important, so is having enough silage to feed the stock over the winter months while maintaining some in reserve.
The adverse weather this spring has resulted in many farmers eating into the silage reserves that had been build up over the previous years.
A budget should be completed to determine how much silage is left in the pit and some rough maths can determine how much silage you are expecting to harvest this year.
Ideally you want a surplus of silage to allow for a ‘rainy day fund’, but at the very least, you should have enough to cover for the expected housed period.