Planning your feed supply strategy for next winter
Maize silage and wholecrop cereals can be useful for providing high DM and starch contents.
If this winter ever ends, we will need to start planning for next winter sooner rather than later. I have always encouraged the growing and feeding of alternative forages for both beef and dairy production, and all over the winter and into this spring, I have been discussing this more and more with all of my nutrition customers when I speak to them over the phone or during farm visits.
The high costs and unreliable weather are, in particular, making grass silage, be it on owned or rented land, very expensive. Furthermore, if grass silage quality is poor, then it makes it even more expensive as getting animal performance from that silage requires increased supplementation.
