Maize silage plenty of patience is required before harvesting
Has Lack Ruminant Sunshine Of Harvest On Reidy, Delayed Brian Writes Summer This During Advice He As The Nutritionist His Harvest This Year's Year's Maize Offers Dates, A
We are currently approaching the last grazing rotation on most farms. Thankfully, the weather has been excellent recently, and grass utilisation has been excellent, with land well set up for the rest of the grazing.
It's such a pity that most simply don’t have a good bank of grass ahead of them. This applies to Dairy and beef herds, regardless of stocking rates. Grass growth has been poor all over this year and being tight on forage has had very little to do with stocking rate, despite what many may want you to believe.
As we head for October, attention will continue to focus on preparing for housing and the winter-feeding plan. Grazing conditions are excellent at present, so this should mean most are a bit away from housing stock.
Hopefully, we get to a stage where we run out of grass before we run out of weather. That being said, across the country, fresh-calved dairy cows, advanced finishing bullocks, advanced finishing heifers, and young bulls would now benefit from housing at this stage as the grass will not provide sufficient energy to maintain optimal performance.
I have only, in the last few days, been asked to assess the ripeness of maize crops. Crops are mostly very good, with good yield potential. A lack of sunshine during the summer will definitely have delayed this year's harvest dates.
Most crops sown under film are bulky, have good cob potential, and will make very good quality feed. Many who grew maize without film have suggested that they will review that decision before planting in 2025.
As I have already said, most crops are a bit away from harvest at present. Patience will be needed to allow for cobs to mature in order to optimise starch yields.
From what I have seen this year, crops are still quite green and will need time to die back before being fit. When assessing its readiness for cutting, the whole crop's dry matter is the key determinant when deciding when to harvest.
- Current weather and future weather forecast;
- Growing conditions throughout the season;
- Sowing date;
- Plastic or Open;
- Variety;
- Cob ripeness;
- Site-Soil type/Aspect;
- Presence of Disease;
- Nitrogen applied at planting;
- Stage of breakdown (Is it brown/yellow or still all green?);
- Ground conditions;
- Has it been hit by frost?
The most important thing is that maize is harvested at a suitable stage of ripeness to optimise quality and performance. It really is worth getting advice regarding the correct time to harvest.
Any drier, and it becomes difficult to manage at feed out. Harvesting Maize simply because you or your supplier wants to plant a winter cereal is not a good enough reason to harvest.
For those considering the purchase of Maize Silage, the main question to ask is, “How much is maize silage worth to your production system?"
The answer to that question depends on many factors:
- Is it being sold by the acre or by the tonne?
- What quality is it likely to be?
- What is the Dry Matter percentage?
- Watch that Maize is not harvested before it is fit this year.
- Starch content is crucial as starch drives performance in beef cattle - improving weight gain, carcase quality and cover. Starch also drives performance in dairy cows through increased yield and milk protein, as well as improved body condition and fertility.
- What animals do you intend to feed it to? Feed to high-performing stock such as milkers, finishers and cows rearing calves.
- Do you have appropriate storage and handling facilities?
Other factors worth considering include how much you will need to buy and what you will balance it with in a ration.
When you buy and feed maize silage, you must take care to balance it properly, or you will have poor animal performance and incur additional costs. Protein and minerals are important to get right when feeding Maize to get the best out of it.
Wastage at feed-out can be a huge financial cost with maize silage. This is easily avoided with good management.
Maize is high in energy, and if it is not consolidated and managed well in the pit, it will result in moulds and spoilage on the shoulders and feed face.
Toxins, bacteria and moulds will feed on the high-energy material, potentially causing large amounts of waste and poor animal performance. Ensure and cover it properly, and if feeding out into warmer weather next year, then consider an additive.
- Brian Reidy is an independent ruminant nutritionist at Premier Farm Nutrition.
