Farmer Focus: Fourth cut makes a Grand Canyon in the clamp

Well, who would have thought after one of the driest summers on record, that when the rain finally came and the grass started growing, the challenges we would have trying to put it in the clamp.

We did fourth cut in late September in what looked like a nice weather window – how wrong was I.

We caught heavy, morning sea mists. As the ground was soft, it created problems turning the swath and we ended up with some soil contamination.

We finally clamped it and left sheeting down until the next day, as it was dark when we finished.

See also: What causes silage clamp slippage and how to avoid it

About the author

David Luxton

David Luxton farms with his partner Sarah Haworth on her family’s 101ha all-grass farm on the north Devon/Cornwall border. They run a 200-cow housed Holstein Friesian herd averaging close to 11,000 litres, milking through three robots on a guided system. A further 28ha are rented for growing grass and maize

Read more articles by David Luxton

In the morning, it was obvious it had moved overnight: there were two huge craters in the middle of the pit.

Several discussions were had with various professionals. Some said move and re-clamp it, others said leave it; I opted for the latter.

It seemed easy until we pulled the sheet over, then the problem became apparent when we started putting the tyres on – where the hell are the gaps and how do I keep the team safe?

When we’d finished, I was inconsolable and wondering what I was going to with this pile of rubbish.

However, after talking to fellow farmers in the area, I realised I wasn’t the only one in this situation and, if anything, slightly better off than others.

At least I’ll have plenty of waste silage to help grow next year’s maize.

Matt and his new man, Pete, are now tasked with trying to feed this 16% dry matter silage.

As I write, we have just introduced some of it into the diet along with opening the maize clamp.

Surprisingly, the diet looks and smells very nice, however, we haven’t quite got it right yet as the cows have slightly dropped in milk.

We have the bank manager out in a couple of weeks, so the challenge is to get the milk yield up before then.

Today, I’ve had a day off the farm and went to Toytrac. I have a huge passion for Britain’s farm toys and have amassed one of the largest boxed collections in the country, if not the world.

It was good to get off the farm, forget the stresses of the past few weeks and catch up with friends and talk all things farming, albeit in the miniature version.