Brian Reidy: Don't let poor pit covers spoil your silage investment

With grass silage costing as much as €250/t of dry matter to produce, no farm can afford to make mistakes when making, harvesting or clamping the crop.

If you have ticked all of the boxes in an effort to make good quality grass silage, it is critical that you don’t drop the ball when it comes to the final step of covering the pit. 

All first cuts that I know of are ensiled at this stage, and it is worth inspecting pits at this stage to make sure the job was done right. With second and third cuts along with whole crops and maize still to be harvested this year, it is worth taking a closer look at the ensiling process in the yard.