Be ready for this year’s silage season
Frank Mickan
Pasture and Fodder Conservation Specialist
DEPI, Ellinbank Centre
Most farmers have exhausted their stocks of silage and hay this year and many have been
forced into buying in hay at high prices and sometimes dubious quality to fill feed gaps.
Thank whoever that we have not had another wet winter this year and in fact, pasture growth
has been relatively good for winter. Hope it lasts.
However farmers will be looking to restock their fodder supplies this season and higher milk
prices offer a glimmer of hope to help get on top of costs to date and fodder conservation
costs for this spring. Hopefully the winter has been kind to us and now we will have a farmer
friendly spring, being good pasture growing conditions and weather to favour early silage
harvesting.
Farmers need to grow, graze and/or conserve as much high quality pasture as possible this
spring. Sticking to a suitable rotation length before now should see you with a pasture wedge
where cows are entering at two and a half to three leaf stage and leaving a four to six
centimetre residual. This will spring board you into spring. If not, spring will start later for
you and silage cuts may be lower and longer shut to get reasonable bulk which will most
likely result in poorer regrowth. Below is a splatter of some things to consider from now on.
Fertilisers: Address the fertility of your paddocks destined for silage or hay so that pastures
are not “leg roped” by a nutrient deficiency and/or nutrients needlessly applied. This may
mean soil testing and early spring is the best time of the year to do so, the soil moisture and
temperature being relatively consistent from year to year. Apply any phosphorous, potassium
and suphur that is needed in a mix with or without nitrogen (N).
This year, seriously consider applying N to boost pasture growth for grazing and silage/hay
cuts. Applying N will actually encourage vegetative (leafy) growth more so than reproductive
and stem growth. In addition, there will be some carry-over effect of the N into the next
rotation. Apply about 100 kg (46 kg N) to 150 kg (70 kg N) urea. Applying higher rates may
produce slightly higher growth rates but more efficient if applied over a larger area at
suggested rates.
However, silage cuts should be at/near grazing height to produce best quality silage plus get
fast, high quality regrowth while maintaining pasture density. The N will increase pasture
growth rate so allow three to five weeks (depending on growing conditions). Don’t make the
mistake of applying N to enable you to cut very high yields as silage quality will be down
somewhat due to the dead material in the pasture base, but more importantly, regrowth will
be less, slower and result in much less plant density. The secret here is faster growth, maybe
more paddocks cut for silage, better regrowth all resulting in more total pasture growth of
higher quality over spring. This is money earning stuff.
However, if no N is applied shut ups may need to be four to seven weeks to achieve similar
yields to the N applied paddocks. This will result in substantially more dead leaves and tillers
in the base of the sward and much slower, lower yielding regrowth. This is drastically
compounded if shut up is even longer due to farmers chasing bulk versus quality.
Contractors: Start talking to your contractor now so that he can plan roughly who to get to
when, weather permitting. Discuss what is likely to be cut, when it may be ready, where the
paddocks to be cut and where the storage site are situated, any access problems such as
rough, narrow laneways and gateways, what if’s when the unforseen happens, etc. Also have
a strong agreement on payment details. An early payer should always get the contractors
attention and keep your harvest needs near the top of his list. If payment is an issue, be up
front and stick to what is negotiated. Put yourself in their shoes.
Equipment: Obvious maybe but surprising how many bits of equipment need some sort of
service, maintenance or repair too close to start of harvest. Some parts may need to be
ordered in and may take weeks, not days. Not good when chasing quality! If a bearing, tynes
or “hard to get at” parts are a bit dicky, better to err on the positive and replace them now, not
be let down in the middle of harvesting a paddock.
Silage Additives: Most silage additives (mainly inoculants but there are other types) from
reputable companies have a place in today’s silage making. The enhancing/stimulant types
are particularly useful for material that has been only on the ground for a short period (less
than three days) and is slightly too wet but rain may be threatening. Use an additive and get
into it but remember the application rate is based on fresh weight of forage and slightly too
wet forage is very heavy! Although additives are not necessary in ideal harvesting conditions
they are usually financially beneficial because they encourage a faster, more thorough
fermentation resulting in less loss of nutrients and less break down of the protein fraction.
The more the additive is mixed throughout the mown grass the better the end result. Spraying
ahead of the forager or baler is better than nothing but not too far ahead in hot weather to
avoid heat damage of the bugs (inoculants). The result will be only as good as the amount of
mixing of forage and additive at the machine itself.
Aerobic spoilage inhibitor additives are very useful for maize and whole crop cereal crops
and where a silage face is too wide for fast feeding out. These products, applied at harvesting,
will delay heating and loss of nutrients for several days at stack opening and when feeding
out. The inoculant versions require about two months of storage to achieve their job.
Storage: Have stack bases cleaned, and if not cemented, grade their surface to give a fall.
Have plastic on hand but stored in a cool place till used. Be careful of rolls rolling around in
the rears of utes/trucks as they are easily punctured and a small hole can lead to large silage
(i.e. milk income) losses if holed plastic is used for sealing stacks and bales.
Don’t cover stacks, seal them airtight! Achieve this by laying gravel filled socks around the
stack perimeter (Figure 1). Tyres placed around the base are not airtight and the silage wasted
instead of producing milk, would have easily paid for the socks. Patch holes ASAP using
silage specific tape. Before applying the tape, ensure the area to be patched is clean, cool, dry
and apply like colour tape to similar colour film.
Consider the new oxygen barrier type films which area available in one step or two step
systems. This system is at least twenty times more impervious to oxygen moving through the
film than the traditional white/black films. Keep an eye out for the possibility of a new stretch
wrap film with an oxygen barrier incorporated into the film. This has been getting developed
and tested overseas and should be out soon.
Safety: Be very careful of machinery operating nearby and watch out for operators with their
minds on the phone and not the machine. Loaded carts and balers on hillsides are very heavy
and may not need much of a hole to flip them over, nor to loose traction when heading down
slopes. When on a main road, assume the person in the car behind has not seen your turning
indicators or flashing light on top of the tractor. I have heard of too many near misses and
accidents form this oversight. When working at night, be very mindful of blinding lights in
the eyes from approaching vehicles in the paddock or the stack. Many accidents happen at
night due to tiredness and dangerous situations not seen, such as dropping a wheel over the
stack edge, etc. Keep kids well away from operating machinery.
Consider your neighbours: Try to place the storage site well away from their house, if
possible, and don’t fall back on the right to farm argument. Although correct in principle,
maintaining friendly neighbours may be a bigger asset than getting them offside. Following
good silage making principles will result in a sweet smelling silage and less cause for grief.
Trying to keep the storage site cleared of smelly mud/silage mixes and spoiled (rotting) silage
waste will also help out here.
Figure 1. Gravel filled sausages placed around stack base