Dairy Event 2011: Ensiling autumn grass requires attention

Producers looking to make autumn grass silage need to pay particular attention to ensiling method, warns Dave Davies from the Silage Advisory Centre.

Speaking at a feed science forum at this year’s Dairy Event and Livestock Show, Mr Davies recommended baling third-cut autumn grass silage, rather than risking spoilage on first- and second-cut silage by opening up the clamp to top it up.

“In the third cut there’s generally the concern you are going to get some rainfall, but you still need to spread that crop just as you would for the first and second cut,” he added.

“And you really need to focus on getting the pH down as quickly as possible, because if you end up with a slow fermentation, often much of the sugar is used up.”

He also warned against feeding third-cut silage to cows in the dry period as this can often do more damage than good.

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