Herd Management: Revisit your feed budget as stock motor through silage

One thing for certain is that it is better to stretch silage when you have a good supply left, rather than waiting until you only have a small bit left.

Be realistic - and even pessimistic - when doing a feed budget for the remainder of the winter, writes independent ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy.

Although a good bit of silage was made in September and October, it could not make up for the deficit due to lower yields in earlier cuts and the fact that many were feeding back silage during the summer. 

So much so, that I am beginning to get calls from farmers who fear that they may run out if they don’t slow down consumption. I mentioned this issue two weeks ago and it seems to a bit more of a problem than most had thought. Most farms will still require between 75 and 90 days of silage to reach the end of their normal winter feeding period. Even if you did the maths in the weeks gone by it would be no harm to do a quick calculation on your remaining stocks now that January 1 is just around the corner.