When it comes to producing good quality, nutritious silage small things can make a big difference. This is especially true of mistakes. A shortcut or a small oversight can ultimately result in silage that is unusable due to insufficient dry matter content or worse, silage that is dangerous to herd health because of mould growth and the likely presence of mycotoxins or Listeria.

Many farmers have come to accept some issues, particularly with mould, as inevitable and as a necessary evil. The reality is however, it's all too often caused by someone committing one of a number of silage "sins".

Assessing Your Silage Clamp

Studying your silage clamp and looking at key indicators can benefit the quality of your silage at feed-out. This short video from Ecosyl highlights some of the top tips for assessing your clamp to help maximise the nutritional value of your silage.

Wholecrop Cereals Could Be ‘No Brainer’

Having a plan to harvest some of your cereal crops for whole-crop cereal silage is a "no brainer" if you need to top-up tight grass silage stocks on dairy and other livestock farms, says silage specialist, Derek Nelson.

Manufacturer	Visqueen
Articles	Clingseal - cutting your losses Typically, forage consists of anything between 40 and 80% of the diet in most dairy and beef production (intensive beef finishing aside). Feed as a whole represents the largest single cost in such systems, making it very clear that addressing the cost of forage while also maximising its quality, is an absolute priority. IBERS (Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences in the UK) cite average dry matter losses of 25% under commercial silage making conditions, with in silo losses of 5-18% typical. Highlighting the importance of ensuring steps are taken to minimise these losses during the harvesting and clamping process. Which is exactly why farmers and industry experts use Clingseal - a flexible silage sheet that is used directly beneath traditional, heavier silage sheets such as Visqueen Agri-S. Clingseal is thinner and therefore more flexible than standard silage sheets. This allows it to “cling” more closely to the contours of the clamp surface and “tuck-in” more at the sides. As such it helps eliminate air pockets and provides a close fitting air barrier to significantly reduce top and shoulder losses from aerobic spoilage. Additionally, because it provides a better air seal, it also facilitates a faster, more efficient fermentation process - delivering enhanced clamp silage quality. Clingseal is easy to apply and suitable for a variety of ensiled crops, including grass. Shoulder and surface spoilage reduction is particularly noticeable with maize, wholecrop, and other ‘moist’ feeds A quick calculation really focuses the mind on the real value the sheet can offer: 1m3 of maize silage equates to approx 800kg of material. So if maize is valued at £40/tonne, then 1m3 is worth £32. A 10cm deep layer is therefore worth £3.20 and a 1cm deep layer worth 32p. SSo this is a film that costs approximately half the value of a 0.5cm layer of maize silage over the surface of the clamp.’ Factor in shoulder spoilage, more rapid and efficient fermentation and better quality silage, then it’s a proverbial ‘no-brainer’..
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