Shorter winter and fewer mouths recommended

Estimate how much silage you need over the winter — that is, the number of animals to be fed and the length of the winter.

Secondly, calculate the quantity of forage currently on the farm including pit silage (grass, maize and whole crop), bales, straw, hay and forage crops.

If you have at least 40% of your silage requirements for the cows and 30% of your silage requirements for the young stock, there are options. There is no single action that will sort the deficit; it requires a number of initiatives to deal with the problem.