Preparing your pit - the last preparations for first-cut

Grass samples tested last week showed low sugar levels, advises ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy.

Best practice pre-ensiling is to line the walls with new plastic to ensure the grass is stored as airtight as possible.

Thankfully, over the last week, plenty of farms grabbed the opportunity to get first-cut silage into pits and bales. Conditions were very good, and the grass harvested was of good quality. 

I tested a lot of grass last week, pre-harvest, and almost all were low enough in nitrates to be appropriate to cut. Sugars, however, were low, so an additive was and will be a good investment in the coming weeks.