Start next year’s silage budget now

Now is the time to do next year’s silage budget.

April is upon us and silage season is just around the corner. Have you calculated your requirements? Firstly, you should calculate your feed stock being carried over from last year. As a rough guide, length X width X height in feet, divided by 50, will give you total tonnes in the pit. This is a rough guide; it is the dry matter of the silage that will determine volumes.

Why should you try to calculate accurate silage requirements? As I advised here a few weeks ago, grass silage production is getting more and more expensive every year. Unfortunately, its quality can be variable, depending on weather, cutting date and grassland management/reseeding policy. Too much poor or average silage in the pit may in fact increase overall beef production costs.