How to Make High-Quality Grass Silage
Grass silage is pickled pasture, preserved through the conversion of its sugars into lactic acid by bacteria.
Silage wrap's key role in baleage production for winter feed has manufacturers pushing the boundaries of polymer production.
But they haven’t all been buying the best technology to extrude silage wrap that is longer, stronger and stretch and puncture resistant.
So to verify its film wrap quality, the Berry/bpi group has had its Silotite range of silage wrap tested by an independent certifier.
Silotite and Silotite Pro stretch films, imported to New Zealand by Agpac, now bear the P-mark awarded by the Swedish government’s SP Technical Research Institute.
The P-mark logo confirms that Silotite films have been independently assessed and quality tested, with a focus on raw materials and manufacturing processes. It also shows the manufacturer is subject to ongoing random inspections and product sampling, says Agpac general manager Chris Dawson.
“When extruding polyethylene films it is possible to produce thinner stretch films which can be sold in longer rolls, sometimes resulting in thinner, not better film,” he said.
He says silage contractors should be cautious about the claims manufacturers make about their products and if they’re unsure should rely on an independent guarantee. In the case of P-mark certification this includes tensile strength, stretch, cling, UV resistance, impact resistance and airtightness. Each roll of Silotite film is guaranteed to have the stated length, thickness and width, and to achieve 70% pre-stretch when wrapping bales.
“Contractors who upgrade their wrappers with cogs which can pre-stretch the film to 70% have a real advantage because they can wrap more bales per roll of film,” said Dawson. “But few films sold today on extra long rolls can withstand this degree of stretch.”
Silotite Pro is available in 1650m and 1950m roll lengths, with patented plastic sleeve packaging that can be recycled with used film -- no need to dispose of cardboard boxes.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
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