Automated silage clamp sheeting - fantasy or future?
a machine that sheets the whole silage clamp, weighs the covers down and can also do the whole thing in reverse to open up for feeding
The temperature of silage and how hot is too hot?
it’s common knowledge that hot silage is not great silage, but silage does heat up during fermentation so when does this heat become a problem?
Choosing the right tedder to make good silage
Getting the right size tedder is important, too big is a waste of money (and a liability in the wrong hands) whilst too small will give you all sorts of headaches.
Silage or haylage?
Silage is wet at 20-45% DM, haylage drier perhaps 50-75% DM and hay has to be dry usually at least 88% dry matter, so does that put haylage in the Goldilocks zone, the best of both worlds?
Which silage inoculant should you choose?
If you have decided that silage inoculants can help you make better use of the forage you grow, then the obvious question is which one should you use
Is bagged silage better silage?
maybe silage in bags (or should that be silage sausages) offers the best of both worlds, the flexibility of bales without the building cost of clamps?
Is a silage shear grab worth the money?
the shear grab is an extremely valuable piece of kit that might just be the most important thing outside the milking parlour
Automated silage feeding robots - science fiction or the future?
If you’re not tempted to self feed cows, what other options are there to feed housed diary cows that don’t include a feeder wagon, tractor and loader that can still free up some time?
Can you build your own silage clamps?
Is it a good idea to use a specialist builder to construct your new silage clamp and how do you decide who to trust?
Steering silage trailers into the future
Steering the axles of a silage trailer can make the whole rig much more nimble and manoeuvrable in a tight spot… But manoeuvrability is only part of the story, steering trailer axles can also drastically reduce tyre wear - by up to 60% - and damage to grass sward in the field too.
Who should design a silage clamp?
…rules are there to make sure the silage stored in a clamp doesn’t cause pollution and that’s a good thing, ……in essence the rules are there to make sure someone has thought about the clamps and designed a compliant structure.
Is self feed silage back in fashion?
cows feeding themselves, and being milked by a robot, might be just nirvana. But for most (real world) dairy farmers the benefit of self feeding silage is all about saving costs. Costs in machinery and equipment, and perhaps labour too.
How to avoid mud on the road in a wet silage harvest
Mud on tyres inevitably leads to mud on road and as forage harvester output increases the amount of soil carting tractors and silage trailers can deposit on the highway increases too. Bigger foot prints spread mud on more tarmac and loads come thick and fast as does the brown stuff.
Are big mowers better mowers?
New trailed combination mowers from SIP and Kuhn are being introduced offering 13m to 15m of cutting capacity with each pass; as long as you can muster enough horsepower to drive them. But what are your chances of seeing one cutting your or your neighbours grass?
What is the best concrete for a silage clamp?
what’s the best concrete for a silage clamp and what’s the difference between good concrete and bad concrete when not comes to silage storage?
Why and how to make pea silage
Peas can be a great fit into a crop rotation. They are spring sown, fast growing, a break crop to cereals that require low inputs and they also fix nitrogen. On top of all that - they are a great forage protein so what’s not to like? Well although they can make great tasty silage, there are some things you need to be careful of.
Is it worth tedding out grass silage?
Most of us are well aware of the (theoretical) benefits of tedding out grass, but its a faff and its expensive so many just don’t bother….. Well in an attempt to upset as few as possible, I’m going to try and steer a middle course and explore why you might want to change your view on tedding grass for silage.
Silage chop length for AD plants
chop length influences the stability of the silage once its open to the elements, or how chop length effects aerobic stability. This is important to all producers of silage but the chop length of silage for an aerobic digester is super important for more than the usual reasons.
How to identify the best land to produce silage
Back in the day, the herd at grass was a constant barometer of the sward quality and quantity….. But for those housing cows 365 or feeding bacteria in an AD tank, how do you know which ground is pulling its weight and which fields need some TLC?