Cost of bale silage vs clamp silage
Spending a fortune on a new silage clamp has got to have a payback; it has got to make financial sense and the reduction in harvest costs might be one of the most important areas to study. That means it’s vital to calculate the costs of making silage in bales against the cost of making silage in a clamp.
Push-off buckrake or silage fork flick?
When it comes to levelling silage on the clamp are you a fork flicker or a push over?…. But here is the thing - in my opinion there is no such thing as the perfect flick!
Why is Silage Effluent so pollutive?
there are a whole load of rules and regulations concerning how you deal with the stinky stuff. So exactly what is it about silage effluent that makes all those strict rules so necessary?
Why wet silage is bad silage
Our silage results are good apart from the low dry matter and low sugars, but why are the sugars so low? ….because there are three silage values that are tightly linked together, low dry matter, pH and available sugars.
Bale silage vs Clamp silage
Bite sized silage bales are first class for convenience but, when it comes to silage quality, bales are often considered as second class to clamp silage but is that fair?
Automated silage clamp sheeting - fantasy or future?
a machine that sheets the whole silage clamp, weighs the covers down and can also do the whole thing in reverse to open up for feeding
The temperature of silage and how hot is too hot?
it’s common knowledge that hot silage is not great silage, but silage does heat up during fermentation so when does this heat become a problem?
Choosing the right tedder to make good silage
Getting the right size tedder is important, too big is a waste of money (and a liability in the wrong hands) whilst too small will give you all sorts of headaches.
Silage or haylage?
Silage is wet at 20-45% DM, haylage drier perhaps 50-75% DM and hay has to be dry usually at least 88% dry matter, so does that put haylage in the Goldilocks zone, the best of both worlds?
Which silage inoculant should you choose?
If you have decided that silage inoculants can help you make better use of the forage you grow, then the obvious question is which one should you use
Is bagged silage better silage?
maybe silage in bags (or should that be silage sausages) offers the best of both worlds, the flexibility of bales without the building cost of clamps?
Is a silage shear grab worth the money?
the shear grab is an extremely valuable piece of kit that might just be the most important thing outside the milking parlour
Automated silage feeding robots - science fiction or the future?
If you’re not tempted to self feed cows, what other options are there to feed housed diary cows that don’t include a feeder wagon, tractor and loader that can still free up some time?
Steering silage trailers into the future
Steering the axles of a silage trailer can make the whole rig much more nimble and manoeuvrable in a tight spot… But manoeuvrability is only part of the story, steering trailer axles can also drastically reduce tyre wear - by up to 60% - and damage to grass sward in the field too.
How to avoid mud on the road in a wet silage harvest
Mud on tyres inevitably leads to mud on road and as forage harvester output increases the amount of soil carting tractors and silage trailers can deposit on the highway increases too. Bigger foot prints spread mud on more tarmac and loads come thick and fast as does the brown stuff.
Are big mowers better mowers?
New trailed combination mowers from SIP and Kuhn are being introduced offering 13m to 15m of cutting capacity with each pass; as long as you can muster enough horsepower to drive them. But what are your chances of seeing one cutting your or your neighbours grass?
Is it worth tedding out grass silage?
Most of us are well aware of the (theoretical) benefits of tedding out grass, but its a faff and its expensive so many just don’t bother….. Well in an attempt to upset as few as possible, I’m going to try and steer a middle course and explore why you might want to change your view on tedding grass for silage.
How to identify the best land to produce silage
Back in the day, the herd at grass was a constant barometer of the sward quality and quantity….. But for those housing cows 365 or feeding bacteria in an AD tank, how do you know which ground is pulling its weight and which fields need some TLC?
How to make Red Clover silage
..already thought about multi species or herbal ley silage.. ..what about crops of full clover. And even if not fully one hundred percent clover, crops that are very highly dominated by clover, what are the key points to make good silage out of these crops?