Grass silage looks plentiful for winter

29 August 1997

Grass silage looks plentiful for winter

PLENTIFUL supplies of mostly high quality grass silage will be available for winter feeding this year, according to the first 800 analyses completed by Dalgety.

With an average dry matter of just under 29%, the results show first-cut silages with MEs averaging 11.2MJ/kg DM and crude proteins of 16.7%. This compares with an average of 27% DM, 11.4 ME and 16.5% crude protein at the same stage last year.

But there is more variation between individual samples, says Dalgetys Chris Bartram. Individual DM analysis ranges from under 15% to over 48% to MEs from 8.9 to 12.7, and proteins from 10.2-25.8%. "This puts the onus on careful analysis and balanced supplementation." &#42