Saturday, 20 October 2018 08:55

High-quality in, high-quality out

Written by 
Silage making on a Taranaki farm last week. Photo: Matthew Herbert. Silage making on a Taranaki farm last week. Photo: Matthew Herbert.

High-quality silage is a stable feed made from high-quality pasture.

Pasture is preserved in the absence of oxygen by a high-quality fermentation to minimise any loss of feeding value. 

It is impossible to produce high-quality silage from low-quality pasture, no matter how good the fermentation is. 

Both the quality of the ensiled pasture and the quality of the fermentation must be considered. 

With well-preserved silage, losses in feeding value during fermentation will be small, and the final silage will be only slightly lower in feeding value than the original pasture.

The quality of the fermentation tells us how well the quality of the original pasture has been preserved in the silage. 

The lactic acid produced during fermentation causes a decrease in pH. A low pH will prevent an unwanted butyric fermentation, which reduces both the feeding value and palatability of the silage. Low DM silage needs a lower pH than high DM silage. 

fLow values for ammonia-N indicate minimal breakdown of protein in the silage, usually well-preserved because pH has fallen quickly to a low level in the silage. 

High concentrations of lactic acid are seen in well-preserved silage. High levels of butyric acid are found in poorly preserved silage and indicate that an unwanted butyric fermentation has occurred.

Top quality

Silage quality can best be ensured by:

- Gathering several swaths into a windrow for improved baler performance

- Producing uniform box shaped windrows that match the baler’s pick-up capacity

- Making firm, well shaped bales that are easier to enclose and store 

- Bale chopping increases the density of the bales (fewer bales/ha so reducing costs)

- Chopping also reduces the air in each bale and releases sugars, both of which improve speed of fermentation. 

Wrapping

Wrapping silage quality can best be ensured by: 

- Wrapping promptly — within 2-4hrs of baling

- Wrapping close to the stack rather than transporting wrapped bales from the field to reduce chance of physical damage (this also prevents soil compaction in the field) 

- Using six layers of wrap to improve sealing and to protect from physical damage. IGER research has identified big increases in lysteria associated with inadequate wrapping 

- Using green or white wrap has been shown to reduce the temperatures of stored bales and to subsequently reduce the amount of moulding.

More like this

Feed help supplements Canterbury farmers meet protein goals

Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

DairyNZ plantain trials cut nitrate leaching by 26%

DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter