Planning now for quality feed next winter
For many farmers grazing is still a bit away due to very soft and wet ground conditions. File Picture.
The weather is never too far away in any conversation in Ireland. There is no doubt that the older you get, the less you like snow. On the upside, maybe home-schooling this week can include snowman construction
A good spell is badly needed to get slurry and fertiliser out as there has been practically no opportunity to do since the close period ended.
For many grazing is still a good bit away due to very soft and wet ground conditions. Ground is actually in okay condition on many farms but there is a lot of standing water.
A bit of patience now may be well rewarded if and when the weather settles. Avoid travelling ground or turning out animals if you will do excessive damage.
Remember that any damage that you do at this time of year is likely to reduce overall grass yield for the year.
This winter is dragging on for a while longer by the looks of it. For those who are worried about forage supply, now is the time to take action and not when you run out.
Do the sums and buy feed sooner rather than later. Straw supplies, in particular, have become very tight recently, with very little now available for trading.
Many are now beginning to review their plans for what crops to set for the coming season. In the last two years when the vast majority of crops were excellent in both quality and volume, many beef and dairy producers are reassessing their options for feed next winter.
Before we look forward we should make sure that we have accurate information about the previous year’s forage production. The experience in 2020 is of very good crops of maize, beet and whole crop cereals in 2020.
As a result, many are thinking of increasing the acreage of these crops or going back to growing them if they had stopped growing these crops.
It is well proven at this stage that the addition of a second forage along with Grass Silage to a Beef finisher diet will increase forage Dry Matter intake by between 10 and 15 %. This will result in reduced concentrate inputs being required.
Given the way concentrate prices have increased this winter, any way that you can reduce the volume being purchased will help your bottom line.
Crops such as Maize Silage and Whole-crop Cereals provide high DM and Starch contents for beef farms. Beet is also an excellent sugar energy sources for finishing beef cattle.
A viable option for some farmers who do not have suitable land to grow alternative forages may be to source them locally from specialised tillage producers.
Do your calculations based on the cost per unit of energy utilised by the animals before any decision is made. Renting ground for silage is not cheap and relative to buying forage at harvest may not give you the best return on investment.
In most cases, buying beet or maize will be cheaper per unit of energy utilised than producing 2nd and 3rd cut on owned ground.
Of the silages I have tested with my NIR machine on customers farms- one thing has stood out for me. Too much of the silage saved is way too dry due to over wilting.
This dry silage has not preserved well, is heating at feed out and in many cases contains moulds detrimental to animal performance.
This is a particular issue in 2nd cuts. Grass destined for the pit must not be on the ground more than 24 hrs unless it is being baled.
Grass silage production is getting more and more expensive every year and 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 will in fact increase overall beef and milk production costs.
You need to learn from mistakes, challenges and issues in previous years in order to improve silage making.
For those who are worried about forage supply, now is the time to take action
Those who are serious about producing quality grass silage in 2021 should have a plan in place to produce the best feed possible.
This plan should include an early grazing strategy or not grazing, a soil nutrient test, a fertiliser and slurry programme, a weed control programme, a reseeding programme, a planned cutting date and a good ensiling strategy.
Now how many of us can honestly say that we have all of those boxes ticked. This is the time of year to set out your goals for all of the above aspects.
Those producing quality silage in 2021 will be cutting it from early May on and will have the first application of fertiliser out in the next three to four weeks or so, weather permitting.
Splitting Nitrogen applications for silage is a wise strategy also as it allows some flexibility on rate applied depending on growing conditions. This will allow you to maintain your target cutting date.
