John Tremain’s haylage business has rarely seen such times. As fast as haylage can be placed into bags, the forklift loads them on to a lorry and off they go to customers.

“In the 10 years we’ve been making haylage there has never been a time like this,” he says. “Despite it being a reasonable time last summer to make hay there doesn’t seem that much about. I think it was the reluctance to use fertiliser that has caused the shortage.”

Based near Orpington, Kent, Mr Tremain and his son Russell farm 160ha (400 acres), all of which is down to grass used for haylage production. Each year they bale about 2000t of haylage.

“Over the years, we have increasingly refined the way we set about the job to improve quality and efficiency,” explains Mr Tremain.

Key to the whole process is the quality of grass used. The best haylage is made from modern ryegrass varieties, while clover and weed grasses are a definite no-no.

Regular reseeding is required to help maintain the standard of grass required and Mr Tremain’s current policy is to re-seed about a third of the farm’s grass acreage each year.

“We have tried grassland rejuvenation but, for us, it simply hasn’t worked,” he explains. “Instead, in its third year after the first cut has been made, the old sward is sprayed off, surface cultivated and a mixture of different rye-grass species drilled using a Moore Uni-Drill. Some of the land is also subsoiled using a McConnel Shakerator.”

Pre-season operations include rolling and top dressing with a 21:4:13: plus sulphur compound. Weather permitting, mowing commences in the first week of June using a 5.5m Vicon centre-pivot mower. At this time the grass has headed and the all-important fibre/protein content is at its optimum ratio. Haylage is baled when the grass is at about 35% DM – a halfway point between hay and silage.

For the coming season the firm’s Lely 435 round baler is to be connected to a German-built Goweil wrapper unit to create a baler-wrapper unit. As with the McHale wrapper it replaces, the bales are delivered to the ground so that they land on their flat edges where there are the most layers of plastic.

“In previous years we have wrapped bales in the field as a separate operation which meant we needed another tractor and another man,” he explains. “This year we hope to use the spare tractor and labour to help clear the bales out of the field more quickly – wrapped bales are very vulnerable to being damaged by wildlife if they are left out overnight.”

Once in the yard the bales receive another four wraps from a static wrapping machine and are marked to indicate which field they came from and the conditions in which they were made.

Mr Tremain estimates that each of the 600kg bales costs him £57.

“Our only output is bales of haylage and nothing else, so all the costs of the business have to be put against the bales – and that works out at £57/bale,” he says. “I know there are those who sell big round bales of haylage for less but they are losing money.”

Re-packaging of the haylage into bags holding 25kg is a means of adding value. Each retails for over £6 so a 600kg bale has a gross earning potential of over £140.

Against this must be put the cost of creating the neat, saleable packages so loved by horse owners.

Bales entering the packaging area have their wraps of film removed before being placed in an unrolling cradle to deliver the haylage into a shredding unit.

“Our ground has quite a few stones and we find they can be a particular problem when mowing – particularly freshly seeded grass where they have not yet become fixed in the ground,” he explains. “To prevent any of them ending up in the packages we have a trap system where the stones drop out as the bale unrolls.”

The shredder teases out the haylage and delivers it to a conveyor that takes it to the press unit. And it is on the conveyor the haylage receives a sprinkling of preservative from a dispenser – a way of extending the shelf life of the finished product and, if required, a spray of aniseed flavouring.

“We introduced a flavouring system last year primarily to make some second cut grass more palatable – we call it our budget line to distinguish it from the first cut haylage,” says Mr Tremain. “It proved to be very popular and we shall use it again.”

The hydraulically powered press is one built by Ken Mills Engineering and was made to produce in 25kg packages rather than the more normal 20kg.

Haylage is allowed to enter the unit’s top chamber until the correct weight is on board. At that point the feed elevator is stopped for a few seconds while the haylage descends to a lower chamber where hydraulic rams compress it and deliver it out of a horizontal chute into a waiting bag. The bag is then heat sealed and stacked manually on a pallet.

“To reduce labour requirement, we now plan to purchase a robot pallet stacker which will mean having to extend the stacking area,” says Mr Tremain. “But if it cuts our labour requirement in the packaging area from three down to two it will be a worthwhile investment.”