New Dairy Farm Project Update

The multi cut silage system is a more progressive method of producing home grown forage. This system sees more frequent silage cuts every 28-30 days, rather than the more traditional three cut system widely adopted in the United Kingdome. The key benefits of a younger cut grass is increased digestibility due to the crop having more leaf and less stem, providing more metabolisable energy for milk production. Also, the protein content is likely to be higher, producing a more digestible forage that will not spend as long in the rumen. Therefore cows can eat more of the silage, allowing forage intakes to improve. Additionally, the grass being harvested at a more uniform growth stage when cut earlier, results in less variability in the clamp and, therefore, in the daily ration. Although there is a higher cost for harvesting the silage due to increased tractor work, producing a higher quality forage will increase milk yield, paying back over and above the increased harvest costs.

This system has been adopted at the focus farm New Dairy for a project looking into the benefits of the multi-cut approach. With the harsh weather conditions this year, 3 cuts of silage have been achieved on early ground and 2 cuts on late heavy ground. Soil moisture levels have been dropping and due to the extreme weather causing burn off the grass regrowth has been poor. Due to this the decision has been made to bale 3rd cut on the late heavy ground to reduce harvest costs. The farm is hoping for a 4th cut by the end of August assuming that the normal weather resumes.

The 1st cut was taken in 2 main cuts on the farm. The first being taken on 20th April over 194 acres, this produced 570 ton averaging at 2.93 ton to the acre. The other first cut was taken on 15th May over 269 acres producing 950 ton averaging at 3.54 ton to the acre. A sample has been taken of the 1st multi-cut silage currently been fed (main 1st cut from heavy ground cut 15th May). This has come back with very good analysis:

• Digestibility value (D vale) 72
• Metabolizable energy (ME) 11.6
• Crude protein (CP) 16.7
• Dry matter (DM) 41.8

Since feeding the 1st cut silage the milk yield has gone from 30 litres per cow per day to 34 litres per cow per day since it was introduced in early June within the high group. This is due to the large proportion of high quality silage being introduced into the diet. Additionally, manure consistency, body condition, milk components and most importantly fertility have all improved since the addition of the 1st cut silage in the ration. Due to the high quality of the silage the farm has been able to make a significant saving per month on feed costs due to taking out 1.5 kilos of blend from the ration per cow while improving milk yields.

Although the system may not suit every farm, the real benefits of the multi-cut approach is being seen at New Dairy. This project so far has shown significant financial improvements being made from achieving more milk from forage and making the best use of home grown feeds.