Silage additive loss due to inadequate delivery

Independent forage trials have shown almost half the additive applied to silage can be lost when using standard delivery equipment.

“Typically, products are applied above the pick-up on the ‘air side’ of the grass, or at the base of the chute after the accelerator on self-propelled forage harvesters, but this means they are highly vulnerable to drift, especially in windy conditions,” said Andy Strzelecki, technical director at the UK forage specialist, Kelvin Cave Ltd.

“Further wastage has been shown to occur when flat-fan nozzles are used to spray the additive, and these would be better replaced with solid-jet sprays,” he said.