Dairy Event 2011: Online silage advice from SilAC

The Silage Advisory Centre (SilAC) has relaunched its website to provide technical forage advice for farmers.

Videos, articles as well as a dedicated “Ask the experts” area are just some of the features the new website, which is free of charge, has to offer.

“Dry matter content, removal of oxygen from bales, as well as timeliness of harvest are just some of the issue which farmers face when conserving forage,” said David Davies, director of Silage Solutions.

Following a dry spring, farmers face the risk of silage having too high a DM content, not to mention the possible risk of Butyric acid forming in clamps and bales, he added.

“We understand the issues facing farmers therefore try to tailor our advice and articles to season specific problems” he said.

The site, which is now live, takes questions from farmers and directs them to the relevant industry expert, with the aim to return an answer within 48 hours.

Experts include Rhun Fychan, Lloyd Dawson area sales manager for BPI Agri, as well as Paul Billings, agriculture director for British Seed Houses.

Topics covered by the experts include anything from bale wrapping to grassland management.

Discussions were also underway with farmers at this year’s Dairy and Livestock Event where SilAC was present, offering farmer’s advice on problems they faced this year.

Ongoing research, such as the National Silage Survey, was also being discussed.

Details of the SilAC service can be found at www.silageadvice.com

For more from the Dairy Event and Livestock Show see our dedicated channel

dairynews