Good weather and good growth its silage season

The past week has brought a welcomed change to weather conditions with temperatures rising above 20°C in parts of the country.

This weather altered farming activity; tractors flooded roads and invaded fields, harvesting grass that had been stocked up for the last six weeks or more.

As was the case with many farmers, we availed of the opportunity to harvest and produced quality round bales of silage. The weather conditions toward the end of April and for the month of May resulted in grass growth at least two weeks behind a normal year.

Instead of six weeks growth, our silage ground was cut eight weeks post grazing to allow for the period of poor growth.

An important decision around mowing time is the quantity vs. quality. Most of us know that the quality of silage harvested is positively correlated to the leaf content of the grass at the time of mowing.

Many fall at this hurdle. Allowing the sward to get another week, or two, growth would increase the quantity resulting in more silage in the pit or more bales produced.

The extra growth would increase the level of grass that has entered the reproductive stage, therefore, producing a seed head.

Feeding poor quality silage requires increased supplementation of concentrates during the winter period and inevitably raises the costs of production.

We targeted better quality silage than we have harvested in the past. We harvested our silage two weeks earlier than last year and therefore had an increased percentage of leaf at the time of harvest.

Silage dry matter digestibility can decrease by as much as three units every week that harvesting is delayed. With this tweak in our silage production we can confidently expect better growth rates of animals over the winter period.

I overheard a friend (non-farming folk) discussing the recent good weather. It is commonly known, as a nation we are obsessed about the weather.

This “townie” was boasting about Ireland and how it is the best place to live when the sun shines.

I whole heartedly agreed, but, when he started harping on about the farmers holding him up on the road I had to intervene.

After the discussion it became apparent that he is a big lover of steak and his weekly intake of milk is enough to rear a small herd of calves.

I outlined the importance of silage production and other farming practices to provide him with the commodities he enjoys.

When I reminded him that milk is required for the 99 he was tucking into, he inescapably agreed.

I tried to convince him cyclists were more of an issue. He responded in an unexpected manner “lads in tractors with the top off and the belly out and the farmers tan are a hazard in themselves”.

I found this amusing; coming from a lad that is so determined to get a tan he resembles Marty Morrissey on The Sunday Game.

However, we agreed safety should be a top priority when encountering farm machinery on the road.