Bill Webb Feed Solutions Outlook

The quality of an excellent maize silage crop can be significantly reduced if it is not stacked, covered and cared for correctly.

Too often we see crops which have taken time, attention and money to grow damaged by farmers taking shortcuts at the ninth hour.

Making top quality silage with high metabolic energy requires careful preparation and attention to detail, which starts with checking the cobs for the right dry matter. For us, the harvest is already underway. Before starting we make sure cobs are at the two-thirds milk-line, which will give 35 to 36 per cent dry matter.

Check that your contractors are chopping the maize to the right length and carry out the 'squeeze test” to ensure no moisture runs out between your fingers. Kernels should be smashed open, so cows can digest them and get the energy they need from the feed. If you find whole ones, talk to your contractor about adjusting the kernel processor until the cobs are mashed up.

Once the maize arrives at the well-prepared silage site, ensure it is spread in thin layers, and each is well compacted before the next layer is added.

The stack should be constructed of layers no more than 75mm to 100mm - and each layer must be rolled well. When a properly-made stack is complete, it should not be possible to push your finger into it any further than the end of your finger nail or your first knuckle. If you're concerned about the compaction, talk to the driver or your contractor and get them to do it properly.

Don't make the stack or pit too wide; you need to determine how much you are going to feed out each day. Long and narrow is better than wide and high, unless you have a block cutter to cut the face. You need to take 30cm-a-day across the whole face; otherwise in humid conditions clostridia bacteria, which can be fatal to stock, can become established in the stack.

A stack which isn't made well is loose and lets in the air so the stack will go mouldy. Cows won't want to eat it and if they do mycotoxins, which grow in it, may reduce their fertility.

We add an inoculant to our maize, which speeds up the ensiling process by introducing beneficial bacteria to use up the sugars or energy in the silage to preserve it faster and produce a better quality product.

Once compacted and covered, the whole stack heats up, using up energy, and you want this to happen quickly, preferably within two weeks.

More expensive inoculants, which contain different bacteria to produce acetic acid to reduce the growth of yeasts and help hold the face of the stack more stable at feed-out time, are also available and we can include them on request.

Make sure the stack is well-covered, and the edges are sealed and cover is tight, not bellowing in the wind and pumping air into the stack as this will cause condensation – water is alkaline and the silage is acid, and this can start a composting instead of ensiling process.

Air can also get in through damage to the cover caused by tossing on old tyres with wire sticking out, so be careful when putting tyres on; or by rats, possums or pukeko, so laying bait stations for pests is important. Covering the stack with netting will keep pukeko off. Fence or hot wire the site too because young livestock love climbing on silage stacks, damaging the cover with their hooves and leaving effluent everywhere.

Don't use last year's cover, except as a secondary cover over or under a new one, as it's bound to have holes in it which will let in water and air.

A badly damaged stack can see farmers lose up to half the value of their silage. It's a valuable and expensive product, so treat it right.

Once the stack is open, don't cover the face again, but do put shade cloth over it if you need to keep birds out.

Covering it can encourage the growth of unwanted yeasts in a humid environment.

Many farmers will be turning their turnip and maize paddock back into pasture; and as with everything in farming, preparation is vital. Soil tests will determine what's needed to grow grass; sprays will keep weeds and insects like grass grub and black beetle under control. Buy top quality seed, which is right for your requirements and location, ensure the seed bed is well prepared and compacted and keep up the fertiliser programme.

Laying baits for slugs is also worthwhile, as they and stem weevil will happily chew up new young shoots.

If kikuyu is a problem, now is a good time to spray and put in winter annuals if the paddock is going into turnips or maize next spring.

Using three sprays through the growing season can help get rid of unwanted weeds and grasses.