Livestock
£1m grant to expand dairy farm
network The Agriculture and Horticul- ture Development Board has secured a £1m grant from the Betty Lawes Foundation to ex- pand its strategic dairy farm network.
The additional support will enable AHDB Dairy to recruit and manage an ad- ditional eight strategic dairy farms over the next five years – increasing the size of the network from 17 to 25 farms across Great Britain.
Showcase excellence AHDB Dairy chairman Gwyn Jones said: “This is a step change for British dairy farmers and a significant in- vestment in their future. Our collaborative approach means we can showcase excellence across the industry with a larger spread of farms across Great Britain. “It will mean more farm- ers can access the benefits that strategic dairy farms offer.” Each farm will follow
AHDB’s strategic farm model and represent either all-year- round or block calving systems. They will showcase best-prac- tice, host on-farm events and each farm will openly share their figures against AHDB Dairy’s key performance in- dicators (KPIs).
Improve productivity Expansion of the network is a core part of a collaboration in- itiative established last year to improve productivity in the sector. Chaired by Volac direc- tor Andy Richardson, it identi- fies opportunities and barriers to deploy practical strategies that benefit the industry. Michael Ball, a strategic dairy farmer in Derbyshire, said: “We have been a strate- gic dairy farm since summer 2018. We joined the network to help us in our aim to become one of the most efficient dairy farmers around.”
Silage should be regularly assessed for quality, says Dave Davies
Silage and nutrition experts
help producers reduce waste • Lower feed waste improves margins • Consolidate grass and layer forage • Ensure clamps are sealed effectively
L
ivestock producers are be- ing encouraged to focus on silage clamp consolida- tion and sealing to preserve bet- ter quality forage and reduce feed waste. With a quarter of silage dry matter losses occurring during storage, nutrient specialists All- tech and feed conservation spe- cialists Silage Solutions are work- ing together to reduce the amount of waste on farms. Most of storage losses are invis- ible and therefore often overlooked by farmers, says Dave Davies of Si- lage Solutions. But the financial implications are high, with losses typically adding over 25% to the cost of silage production. “The real cost of production for every tonne of dry matter silage made is around £160 compared to £120/t of dry matter. On top of this, dry matter losses reduce si- lage quality – most notably the lev- el of metabolisable energy.”
Reducing losses When the associated impact this has on milk production is consid- ered, it equates to a further £30/t, says Dr Davies. Individual busi- nesses could easily be experienc-
“
Dry matter losses reduce silage quality – and metabolisable energy
ing financial losses in excess of £15,000 based on 1,000t fresh weight of silage at 30% dry matter. The good news is that it is pos- sible to significantly reduce loss- es at storage. This was highlighted in a re- cent Alltech Feed Waste Reduc- tion Initiative on-farm pilot study, which assessed storage losses on 34 farms. Even farms with no vis- ible losses were losing more than 10% of dry matter, it found. Better consolidation and seal- ing of the clamp is key to reducing losses at storage, says Dr Davies. Producers should aim to achieve a density of 750kg of fresh matter per cubic metre, or 220-250kg of DM per cubic metre, when rolling grass in the clamp.
Roll and sheet “A high density can be achieved by layering forage in the clamp, in layers no thicker than 15cm, and rolling each layer between loads,
starting right from the first load,” adds Dr Davies. “Following consolidation, it’s important not to overlook correct sheeting of the clamp to ensure an airtight seal and prevent oxy- gen ingress during storage. I rec- ommend using a side sheet, oxy- gen barrier film and top sheet.” Sufficient top weight should then be applied to form a firm seal, says Dr Davies. “The junction between the
wall, the top sheet and the ramp are often problem areas and re- quire particular care. For exam- ple, gravel bags should ideally be positioned around the complete periphery of the clamp as well as down the ramp at the front.”
Extra cover Feed wastage can be reduced to zero by adding an addition- al thin clear film directly to the top of freshly clamped silage un- der the traditional black plastic sheet, according to plastic special- ists RPC BPI. “With conserved forage in short supply following last year’s poor grass growing season, reducing post harvest losses will help farm- ers make and store as much as possible this year,” says agricul- ture sales director Lloyd Dawson. “A thin, flexible and low per- meability top sheet, makes a real impact on reducing top or shoul- der waste.”
JUNE 2019 • ANGLIA FARMER 81
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