The entire harvested silage is baled, and many farmers are now looking to obtain a second cutting, if they have not already done so.
The first cut is generally the best quality cut, while the second and third crops are used to accumulate forage reserves.
However, it is best for farmers to conduct a silage test before the mowers start buzzing again to get an idea of how the first cut was made and where improvements can be made.
The biggest impact the results will have is Cutting dateswhich was all over the place for the first cut given the weather.
Cutting dates have the greatest impact on variation in silage test results, especially silage dry matter digestibility (DMD).
Silage test results
Realistically, farmers will only need dry cow silage for 10-12 weeks in winter, which is generally the larger, lower quality crops in the second or third cut with a DMD of 68-70%.
The remaining weeks and into spring will require high-quality silage for milking cows.
Ideally, dairy cows will need at least 74% DMD silage for the few weeks they may be housed to ensure energy requirements are met and milk production continues.
It is always helpful to have additional high quality forage for the year’s shoulders as well if feeding cows temporarily.
The UFL of your silage is an energy indicator, as the higher the UFL, the greater the feed energy of the milk solids.
Dry cow silage should be between 0.72-0.75 UFL/kg, and milking cow silage should be between 0.83-0.88 UFL/kg.
The crude protein of silage can be affected by the DMD of silage and the timing and amount of nitrogen applications.
It should be more than 12% for dry cow silage and more than 14% for dairy cow silage.
PDIE – digestible protein in the small intestine – should be 75 g/kg for dry cows and more than 80 g/kg for dairy cows. This is determined by the levels of UFL and crude protein in the silage.
The silage intake value should be between 90-95 g/kg live weight (live weight).0.75 For dry cow silage and over 105g/kg bw0.75 To milk cow silage.
The potassium (K) content should be less than 2.2% for dry cows, as high silage fed from two weeks before calving creates a risk of milk fever. For dairy cows, if the potassium content is more than 2.4%, there should be no problem.
Moving on to preservation metrics, the pH of your silage should be between 4.0-4.2 and up to 4.4 for drier crops. If the pH is too high, this indicates poor preservation and if it is too low, intakes may be affected.
High ammonia also indicates poor preservation and reduced intake, so the nitrogen percentage should be less than 8%.
Higher values of lactic acid indicate stable and palatable silage, which should be between 8-10% DM while higher ash indicates soil contamination and should be less than 8% DM.
By testing silage now, farmers will have a better understanding of what is in the yard, and will use that information to get second or third cuts while balancing yield and quality.
