Forage

Forages this winter presented a particular challenge on farm when it came to rationing. There were many instances of variability in animal response to diet ‘tweaking’, which were put down to abnormal silage profiles. Generally, first cuts were earlier and last year and did feed quite well but in many cases, there wasn’t a lot of it, but as the table below illustrates on average they weren’t significantly improved on previous years.

Christmas is fast approaching and its time to reflect on the past year and start to make plans for the coming one.  For some this growing season has been kind, but still, present certain challenges. When pondering it may well be worth considering; few farmers would consider giving their cows the same feed ration that they were giving them in the 1980s. Yet many are still buying the same fertiliser grades. “Why do we apply fertiliser to our crops?”

As the majority of herds are partially housing cows and buffering quite heavily, we have had the opportunity to open clamps and hopefully come up with a plan for the winter. Many of you will have probably cast your eye across the silage results that have been printed in the national press over the last few months and even had a chance to sit down and compare your silages to the published figures.